Corallorhiza striata

This photo was taken earlier in the year In Larrabee State Park, but not at Clayton Beach. Near the main road through the park, Chuckanut Drive, there is a walking and biking trail, the Interurban Trail, that follows the road for many miles. This photo was taken along that trail at a spot where we go to see these orchids every year.

Corallorhiza striata has the largest and showiest flowers of any of our native Coralroots. It blooms in the spring and is usually found growing in rather sheltered and shady areas. In this particular location it can be found in some large clumps if they survive the dogs and bikes and hikers who use the trail, but usually they do and people who use the trail seem quite careful to use it responsibly.

All the Coralroots are leafless and without chlorophyll. They live in a symbiotic relation with a fungus and through the fungus obtain their nourishment from decaying material in the soil. Washington has five species of Coralroots, maculata, mertensiana, striata, trifida and wisteriana, plus several important varieties of these species.

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