We were directed to our first orchid of the season by Andrew, a young fellow who was also working in West Glacier for the summer. It was a Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa), or rather a small patch of them. This small, elegant piece of eye-candy was a bit of an old friend since my wife and I first saw it in northern California a few years earlier (see my article Redwoods, Bigfoot, and Calypso Orchids, published July 23, 2002). We thought we had missed it all together this year when we didn't spot it during our drive up to Montana in late April.
The next orchid we found on our own. Though it often grows singly, we found it in small colonies of two to four plants in many locations. It was Striped Coralroot (Corallorhiza striata), the first of three coralroots we would find over the course of the summer.
It is a leafless, erect, purplish stem which grows to more than a foot tall. Up to two-dozen, or as few as a half-dozen flowers bloom in a raceme along the top of the stem. The pale-pinkish flowers are about an inch across, with conspicuous reddish-brown to purple stripes on the three sepals and two upper petals. The lower petal forms a somewhat broader, unlobed lip.
The next coralroot we found was the more common Spotted Coralroot (C. maculata). Similar to Striped Coralroot, this one has fewer flowers in an open raceme at the top of the stem. The three sepals and upper two petals are pinkish-red while the lower petal forms a lip with two small basal lobes. This lower lip is white with purple spots. It often grows in large colonies.
The third coralroot we found was Yellow, or Early Coralroot (C. trifida). We were aimed in its general direction by Carson, another young fellow working in West Glacier. Unlike its two cousins, the stem is pale greenish-yellow. The small flowers are likewise pale greenish-yellow except for the lower lip, which is white.
Their generic Corallorhiza means "coral root," but the "root" is in fact a hard mass of rhizomes. These rhizomes are associated with a fungus that aids in absorbing nutrients from the humus on the forest floor. The rhizomes may remain dormant for several years after producing flower stalks.
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