Pacific coralroot
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Corallorhiza
Species:
C. mertensiana
Binomial name
Corallorhiza mertensiana
Bong.
Synonyms[1]
  • Neottia mertensiana (Bong.) Kuntze
  • Corallorhiza maculata subsp. mertensiana (Bong.) Calder & Roy L.Taylor
  • Corallorhiza vancouveriana Finet
  • Corallorhiza purpurea L.O.Williams
  • Corallorhiza mertensiana f. albolabia P.M.Br.
  • Corallorhiza mertensiana f. pallida P.M.Br.

Corallorhiza mertensiana, or Pacific coralroot, is a coralroot orchid native to the shady conifer forests of northwestern North America.[1][2] It also goes by the common names Western coralroot and Mertens' coralroot.[3] Corallorhiza mertensiana was previously considered a subspecies of Corallorhiza maculata but was given species rank in 1997 by Freudenstein.[4]

Description

Corallorrhiza mertensiana is a leafless, parasitic, perennial orchid that is 6-20 inches tall.[5][6] The stem is red to brownish purple. The upper petals are pink to reddish pink, with yellow to dark red veins. The lower petals are wider, dark pink to red, and have three deep red veins. Beneath the lower petal the spur is prominent.[3] The flower spikes are visible from May to August.[4] Corallorrhiza mertensiana has no roots, only hard, branched rhizomes that resemble coral.[7]

Fungal associations

Corallorrhiza mertensiana is a nonphotosynthetic, myco-heterotroph that receives its nutrition from ectomycorrhizal fungi.[8] The fungi receive mineral nutrients and carbon symbiotically from trees. Corallorrhiza mertensiana parasitizes the carbon from the fungi.[9] Corallorrhiza mertensiana only associates with mutually exclusive subsets of species from the Russulaceae.[10] Corallorrhiza mertensiana never shares fungal species with Corallorrhiza maculata even when intermixed at the same growing site.[4]

Habitat and distribution

Corallorrhiza mertensiana grows in shady coniferous forests at low to mid-elevations.[3] It prefers damp soil that is rich in humus, and receives dappled sunlight.[7] Corallorrhiza mertensiana is found in the Cascades from Alaska to California, and the Rocky Mountains from Alberta to Wyoming.[2] In a survey of the plants found in Glacier Bay, Alaska in 1923, Corallorhiza mertensiana was reported to be growing beneath the thickets of Alnus tenuifolia along with Petasites frigida, Aspidium, and Polystichum.[11] In British Columbia it has been found to be associated with Gaultheria shallon, Hylocomium splendens, and Rhytidiadelphus loreus.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". Wcsp.science.kew.org. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "USDA Plants Database".
  3. 1 2 3 Turner, Mark & Phyllis Gustafson. Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guide.
  4. 1 2 3 Lee Taylor, D.; Bruns, Thomas D. (October 1999). "Population, habitat and genetic correlates of mycorrhizal specialization in the 'cheating' orchids Corallorhiza maculata and C. mertensiana" (PDF). Molecular Ecology. 8 (10): 1719–1732. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.1999.00760.x. PMID 10583834. S2CID 11787454. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Kemper, John. Wildflowers of Southern Oregon: A Field Guide.
  6. ↑ Freudenstein, John V. (1994). "Character Transformation and Relationships in Corallorhiza (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae). II. Morphological Variation and Phylogenetic Analysis". American Journal of Botany. 81 (11): 1458–1467. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1994.tb15632.x. JSTOR 2445319.
  7. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-06-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ Shefferson, Richard P., et al. "Life History Strategy In Herbaceous Perennials: Inferring Demographic Patterns From The Aboveground Dynamics Of A Primarily Subterranean, Myco-Heterotrophic Orchid." Oikos 120.9 (2011): 1291-1300. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Corallorhiza | Pacific Bulb Society". Pacificbulbsociety.org.
  10. ↑ "Host Specificity in Ectomycorrhizal Communities: What do the Exceptions Tell Us?". icb.oxfordjournals.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Cooper, William Skinner (1923). "The Recent Ecological History of Glacier Bay, Alaska: The Present Vegetation Cycle". Ecology. 4 (3): 223–246. doi:10.2307/1929047. JSTOR 1929047.
  12. ↑ Ceska, A., & A.M. Scagel. Indicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia. UBC Press. 2011.
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