''Corallorhiza maculata'', or spotted coralroot, is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n coralroot orchid. It has four varieties: ''C. maculata var. occidentalis'' (western spotted coralroot), ''C. maculata var. maculata'' (eastern spotted coralroot or summer coralroot), ''C. maculata var. mexicana, and C. maculata var. ozettensis''. It is widespread through

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, St. Pierre & Miquelon, and much of the western and northern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(though generally absent from the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and from the lowland parts of the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

). It grows mostly in

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

woodlands.

Description

''Corallorhiza maculata'' is a

myco-heterotroph Myco-heterotrophy (from Greek , , and ) is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis. A myco-heterotroph ...

; it lacks

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

and obtains energy by parasitizing the

mycelium Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Russulaceae The Russulaceae are a diverse family (biology), family of fungi in the order Russulales, with roughly 1,900 known species and a worldwide distribution. They comprise the Russula, brittlegills and the milk-caps, well-known mushroom-forming fungi ...

. The rhizome and lower stem are often knotted into branched

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

shapes. The stem is usually red or brown in color, but occasionally comes in a light yellow or cream color. There are no leaves and no photosynthetic green tissues. The stems bear dark red scales and intricate orchid flowers. ''Corallorhiza maculata'' flowers are small and emerge regularly from all sides of the stem. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are dark red or brown tinged with purple, long and pointed. The side petals are reddish, and the lip petal is bright clean white with deep red spots. It is usually scalloped along its edges and . In some varieties, the lip may be plain white without spots.

Uses

Several Native American groups historically used the orchid's stems dried and brewed as a tea for such maladies as colds, pneumonia, and skin irritation. ''Corallorhiza maculata'' is also the topic of the poem ''On Going Unnoticed'' by Robert Frost.

References

External links

* *
Jepson Manual - ''Corallorhiza maculata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2996998 maculata Parasitic plants Myco-heterotrophic orchids Orchids of Canada Orchids of Mexico Orchids of the United States Orchids of Guatemala Flora of the Western United States Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Northern United States Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1817 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Description

Uses

References

Further reading

External links