Mac Pods

Day 329: Mac pods! No, not an advertisement for Apple products, but rather the seed pods of my pet Corallorhiza maculata. If you will recall, I was lamenting the fact that I couldn't get to my beloved mycoheterotrophic plants in the spring until one day I discovered that they'd come to me in the person of Mac, who cropped up unexpectedly in my back yard. I put stakes and flagger tape around her for protection, but even so, her stem was somehow bent but not fully broken just below the inflorescence. One must take into consideration that any plant which can survive a dormancy of 25-30 years must be pretty tough. Mac refused to give up and, with the help of her mycoheterotrophic partner fungus (type unknown), withdrew sufficient nutrition from the soil to bring pods to maturity.

A lot of requirements are at play in a mycoheterotroph's life cycle. It's not enough that she makes seeds, so fine that they are referred to as "dust seeds." Despite their microscopic nature, they rely on that critical, specialized fungal component to weaken their husks before germination can occur. Not only that, but the fungus helps break down soil nutrients into a form the growing plant can use. Without that fungal partner, Mac could not grow. Her seeds could not sprout. They would lay dormant until all the stipulations of her bio-contract were again met. It goes without saying that the rarity of a particular mycoheterotroph is weighted by the range of fungal partners it will accept. Fortunately, Mac is pretty broad-minded in that regard unlike, say, Cephalanthera. Will my yard be graced by her presence again next spring? We'll just have to wait and see.