Any Hue But Blue

Day 254: I say jokingly that Corallorhiza mertensiana comes in every hue but blue, and that isn't as much of a stretch as it sounds. I've seen them uniformly magenta-purple, so deep that the darker veins could barely be distinguished. Others have been coppery-brown or a greenish-bronze. I've even seen them so green, you'd have mistaken them for a giant economy size C. trifida if it hadn't been for the shape of the flower. Recently, Arnie (I'm sure you all know who I mean by now without me having to remind you that he's the Park's Plant Ecologist with whom I have taken some memorably muddy field trips)...Arnie went hiking out of Ohanapecosh Campground (an area known for its mycoheterotrophic diversity) and came across some specimens which were mostly yellow. He sent me a photo and a line of question marks, from which I inferred that he wanted a second opinion. I laughed, and sent him back a note: "Let me know when you find a blue one." Shortly thereafter, Joe Dreimiller and I made a trip on the same trail system. Yellows dominated.

For those of you who might be wondering, the flower's morphology (shape) is distinctly different in each of the four species of Corallorhiza we find in the Pacific Northwest. Mertensiana has narrow side petals, the thinnest of the four. It looks thready. Maculata's lower lobe is slightly ruffled and almost always distinctly spotted with purple. It also tends to be coppery in overall colour. Trifida is tiny, seldom more than 8" high and its blossoms are proportionally smaller. Striata...as yet not confirmed in the Park (a single herbarium specimen is misidentified), but I'm still searching for those striped, more compact flowers every time I go into the field.