Fall coralroot
Also known as: small-flower coralroot, late coralroot
Images
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Morphology
- Stem
- Erect, greenish yellow to purplish brown, simple; bulbous-based; sheathing bracts 2-4.
- Leaves
- Absent
- Inflorescence
- Racemes, terminal, lax, 5-26-flowered, 1 to 16 inches; bracts oblong to lanceolate, .04 to .08 inch long, .02 to 03 inch wide, apex acute to obtuse. Pedicels .04 to .14 inch long.
- Flower
- Upside down; pink, purple, or reddish brown; perianth open or closed; sepals 3, broadly lanceolate; lateral sepals .12 to .18 inch; petals 3, distinct, broadly lanceolate, .1 to .16 inch, lower petal modified as lip; lip white, often purple-spotted, ovate to round, margins entire or finely erose; sepals and petals connivent and forming a hood over the column; stamens usually 1-2, fused to style and stigmas to form a column subtended by lip; column white basally, apex often purple; pistil 1; stigmas usually 3-lobed, modified into a beak near tip of column; cleistogamous flowers sometimes present.
- Fruit
- Capsules, pendent, ellipsoid, .25 to .3 inch; seeds numerous.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Oak-hickory woodlands
- Distribution
- East 1/5 of Kansas
Additional Notes
Comments
Plants without chlorophyll or appearing so, glabrous; from coral-like rhizomes. The flowers and foliage are inconspicuous, and this species frequently is collected after the flowers are past their prime and the fruits have begun to enlarge. Corallorhiza coral and root, alluding to the coral-like rhizomes and odontorhiza tooth and root. Kansas plants are var. odontorhiza.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Wildflower
- Family
- Orchidaceae - Orchid Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 2.5-16 inches
- Origin
- Native
- Last Updated
- 2016-12-01
Color Groups
Pink, Red & Orange Wildflowers
Flowering Period
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Blooms: August, September, October