Orchid Family – Orchidaceae
Actual size: ½ inch across
Yellow Coralroot is also called Northern or Early Coralroot.
Plant Description: Yellow Coralroot is a 4 to 10 inches tall, yellow or greenish-yellow saprophyte with 2 to 5 scale-like bracts, instead of leaves, and 3 to 15 short-stalked, yellow flowers growing up the top half of the stem.
Flower Description: The 5 upper, ¼ inch long, pale-yelllow sepals are curved and spread out and forward. The lip is also ¼ inch long, almost white, and tooth-lobed near the base. The lip is sometimes faintly red-spotted. The stamens and style are fused into a white or yellowish column 1/8 to ¼ inch long.
Note: Yellow Coralroot is said to be the most common leafless orchid in North America, but it is rare in Washington.
Yellow Coralroot Photo Gallery
Photo information: Both photos were taken on May 25, 2013 on Skookum Flats Trail, US 410, Greenwater, WA.