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Corallorhiza mertensiana
Also called Western coralroot, Mertens' Coralroot
Corallorhiza mertensiana, or Pacific coralroot, is a coralroot orchid native to the shady conifer forests of northwestern North America. It also goes by the common names Western coralroot and Mertens' coralroot. Corallorhiza mertensiana was previously considered a subspecies of Corallorhiza maculata but was given species rank in 1997 by Freudenstein.
Corallorrhiza mertensiana grows in shady coniferous forests at low to mid-elevations. It prefers damp soil that is rich in humus, and receives dappled sunlight. Corallorrhiza mertensiana is found in the Cascades from Alaska to California, and the Rocky Mountains from Alberta to Wyoming. In a survey of the plants found in Glacier Bay, Alaska in 1923, Corallorhiza mertensiana was reported to be growing beneath the thickets of Alnus tenuifolia along with Petasites frigida, Aspidium, and Polystichum. In British Columbia it has been found to be associated with Gaultheria shallon, Hylocomium splendens, and Rhytidiadelphus loreus.
Bentley's coralroot · Corallorhiza ekmanii · Spotted coralroot · Autumn coralroot · Striped coralroot · Yellow coralroot · Spring coralroot · Coralroot
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Corallorhiza mertensiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
