''Hexalectris spicata'', the spiked crested coralroot, is a terrestrial, myco-heterotrophic orchid lacking

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 subsisting entirely on nutrients obtained from

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

fungi in the soil. It is native to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. It is closely related to '' H. arizonica'' and the two are sometimes considered varieties of the same species. ''Hexalectris spicata'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the southern half of the United States from

east to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and north to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Hexalectris spicata''
/ref>Kennedy, A.H. & Watson, L.E. (2010). Species deliminations and phylogenetic relationships within the fully myco-heterotrophic ''Hexalectris'' (Orchidaceae). Systematic Botany 35: 64-76.

References

External links

* ttp://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/hexalectris/spicata/ Go Orchids, North American Orchid Conservation Center, Crested Coralroot (''Hexalectris spicata'')
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas @ Austin, ''Hexalectris spicata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15467564 Bletiinae Myco-heterotrophic orchids Orchids of Mexico Orchids of the United States Plants described in 1882