Corallorhiza maculata (Spotted Coralroot orchid) and Corallorhiza striata (Striped Coralroot orchid) in the Genesee Valley, Plumas County, California — 2013-06-11

The final stop on the first day of our field trips was on top of a mountain in an area called Genesee Valley, Plumas County, California. Here we saw three orchid species: Corallorhiza maculata variety maculata or Spotted Coralroot orchid, Corallorhiza striata variety striata or Striped Coralroot orchid, and Cyprpiedium montanum or Mountain Lady’s-slipper orchid (about which I will write separately in tomorrow’s blog).

These two Coralroot orchid species are similar in many respects but quite different in appearance. Following, is a close-up shot of each species — Spotted Coralroot orchid first, then Striped Coralroot orchid:

The drive up the mountain to the location for the orchids was tortuous, at best. It seemed to take hours, and I had to use my windshield sprayer over and over again just to be able to see through the accumulating dust. The lead vehicle was the only one fortunate enough to not have to do this. Even when the windshield was temporarily clean, the thick dust in the air meant that we could not see more than a few feet in front of the vehicle at any time. In addtion, these old logging roads are without any gardrails, and the dropoff on the side of the road was almost vertical in places. Don’t even ask me how we managed to get our vehicles turned around so that we could leave. Having said that, we finally arrived in one piece at our final destination. We quickly retrieved our gear and gathered in a group to hear Raymond, our field tip leader, tell us more of what to expect at the site. We then headed down the steep slope to see what we could find.

Almost immediately, we saw a few scattered stems of Spotted Coralroot orchid — some being highlighted by the sun poking through the towering pines and firs. Upon closer inspection, we verified that these were the variety maculata, with the defining feature being that the edges of the lip are almost parallel. The other similar variety being Corallorhiza maculata variety occidentalis or Western Spotted Coralroot, which we did not find on this field trip:

As you can see, the coloration is variable, with some of the stems and petals being tan, while others are rather pinkish. The colorful flowers are about 1/4 inch (.6 cm) wide. These plants were growing in a very dry substrate of pine needles and leaves. This region of California has had only 20% of the expected rainfall this year, but to my eyes, the orchids did not appear to have been affected by the lack of rainfall. They were quite robust and colorful.

A bit farther down the slope, we began seeing many flowering plants of Striped Coralroot orchid scattered in the dappled light on the forest floor:

The coloration of these 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch (~ 1.5 cm) flowers was quite pleasing; the tan flowers having deep red stripes on the petals and lip. I was quite excited about seeing this species, since I had photographed it only once while visiting Yosemite National Park several years ago. Those few plants were well past their peak bloom, and I had really wanted to get some images of this species in full bloom on this trip.

In the following shot, it is easy to see the dry leaf and needle litter on the forest floor:

At this point, I need to mention that some were identifying the plants in this particular population as Corallorhiza striata variety vreelandii, but I think the dark red stripes and tan background color was a bit too strong (particularly in the petals and sepals) to meet the requirements for the species vreelandii. So, I’m identifying the plants in this population as Corallorhiza striata variety striata. Since I’m not intimately familiar with the species, this is just an opinion, so take it for what it’s worth…

Here are a few more images of the Striped Coralroot orchid:

Soon, we began to see many additional plants of the Spotted Coralroot orchid. I had hoped to find one of the plants with no spots on the lip, and when Raymond pointed out the following plant, I thought we had finally found it:

But, when I enlarged the shot in the LCD viewer on the back of my camera, I could see a few very faint spots on the lip — close, but no cigar…

I continued to look for that elusive “unspotted” Spotted Coralroot orchid. Along the way, we saw many more Spotted Coralroot orchids. Some of the plants were tall with a few loosely-spaced flowers, and some were shorter with dozens of flowers crowded on the stem:

We even found one with a double flower — a bit past peak bloom, but still quite interesting!:

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an insect light upon one of the flowers. Thinking it might be a pollinator, I wanted to capture it doing its “thing” with the flowers:

However, it was just a fly. Later, I read that the Spotted Coralroot orchid is self-pollinating, and it does not need the help of insects to complete this task.

By this time, I felt like I had descended half-way down the mountain, but in reality, I was only a couple of hundred yards from our vehicles. The terrain was very steep, and with the loose footing, I felt as if I were in a controlled fall the whole time; slipping here and there and eventually coming to rest against a huge fallen tree to break my slide down the mountain. Along the way down the slope, I saw many of the Spotted Coralroot orchids in tight bud, promising to provide flowers within the next week or ten days:

I was about ready to head back up the slope (I had heard a horn blowing, which is the sign that we were preparing to gather and drive on down the mountain), when I spotted a lighter colored Spotted Coralroot orchid in the shadows. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that I had found what I was looking for:

I’m calling this one Corallorhiza maculata variety maculata forma immaculata or the Unspotted Spotted Coralroot orchid — what a mouthfull!

This brings to an end another great field trip. I cannot convey enough thanks to the folks who spent the previous week searching out each of these sites, marking selected group of plants with flagging tape so that we could easily find them — Ron Coleman and Raymond Prothero, in particular did a stellar job. Ron wrote the defining book on California orchids. It is called, The Wild Orchids of California and it is an invaluable tool for identifying the orchids in the field. Raymond is a California native and lives in Sacramento and was our Conference chairman. Having been a field trip leader on a prior Native Orchid Conference symposium, I know the anxiety beforehand of wondering if the orchids will “behave” and show off for the field trip participants. We were all very pleased with the results of their hard work…

— Jim