Saprophytic Orchids of Indiana

There are four species of orchids with extant populations in Indiana that can be considered to be saprophytic and/or hemi-parasitic. They live their lives below ground, not subject to photosynthesis, and unable to produce their own food, but deriving it instead (via mycorrhizae) from decaying organic matter (Homoya 1993).

It is suggested that no plants are truly saprophytic, that it is not the plants that are doing the breaking down of the dead plant material, but symbiotic fungi (mycorrhiza) working with the plants that are doing the decomposing (www.helium.com).

I was fortunate to find and photograph all four species last year, but it required traveling from one end of the state to the other, beginning the first week in May and ending in the middle of September.

The first to bloom in the spring is Wister's coral-root (Corallorhiza wisteriana), which is found primarily in the southern half of the state. The flowers (below) were found in bloom on May 4, near Versailles State Park and were growing in the flood plain of a small creek and not on the moderately moist slopes of ravines where it typically occurs (Homoya 1993).




Later in the summer in late July and August one can find spotted coral-root (Corallorhiza maculata). The flowers (below) were blooming on July 18, at Cowles Bog in northwestern Indiana.



Another mid- to late-summer bloomer is crested coral-root (Hexalectris spicata), which differs from members of the coral-root genus (Corallorhiza) by having a different column structure and thicker more unbranched rhizomes (Homoya 1993). The flowers (below) were photographed on July 20, in Clark County.



Autumn coral-root (Corallorhiza odontorhiza) is the smallest member of this genus and no doubt possesses the least showy flower, if indeed the flower can even be found in its open state. I have been monitoring a small colony of this species at Cowles Bog in Porter County for four years. Only once have I found a single open flower on any of the plants.

This is the typical flower stalk of autumn coral-root (below) with its tightly closed flower.



And here--in all its glory--is the open flowered form (below) photographed on September 19.


Sadly, another saprophytic orchid, early spring coral-root (Corallorhiza trifida), has been extirpated from Indiana. It was found in one site only, in a unique natural area in the Indiana Dunes, which is now the location of a foreign owned steel mill (Homoya 1993).

Homoya, M.A. 1993. Orchids of Indiana. Indianapolis: The Indiana Academy of Science.

Plant Quiz Solved - Fragile Fern!

Good call, Susan! It is Fragile Fern, a plant whose taxonomic status is not treated consistently by our many authors. Closely related and/or synonymous species and varieties include Cystopteris protrusa, C. tenuis, C. fragilis, C. fragilis var. mackayi, and C. fragilis var. protrusa, among others.

This fern emerges earlier than most. When spring ephemerals are in their prime it's unfurling among them, especially in rich woods. Eventually it gets much taller than the ones in the photos below.

Plant Quiz Solved - Ranunculus testiculatus!

Good call, Mary. It is Ranunculus testiculatus, also known as Ceratocephalus testiculatus, Bur Buttercup. In the eastern U.S. it grows almost exclusively in campgrounds. It is new to Gray's Manual of Botany by M. L. Fernald.

This plant is unusual in that each pistil is scrotiform (that's a botanical term) at the base, having twin protuberances that look like testicles. Hence the specific epithet testiculatus, and the unofficial common name, Ballswort! It is not, however, related to Nut Rush or Nut Sedge.

Dryopteris marginalis

Many interesting ferns can be found growing on rocky outcrops, but one of my favorite common ferns has to be Dryopteris marginalis (Marginal Shield Fern).


Found flowing over the edges of sandstone outcrops and ledges as well as growing in the sandy soils of the dunes around the Great Lakes, Dryopteris marginalis is easily identified by the marginally-disposed sori, shown above. This fern is found throughout the eastern half of North America and Greenland, and is apparently also known from Brittish Columbia. I most recently saw this species on the north-facing sandstone ledges at Fall Creek Gorge in Warren County, Indiana. For more plant photos from my recent trip to Fall Creek Gorge, visit my post at Through Handlens and Binoculars.

Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis

This common member of the Poppy family nearly always eludes my camera. It flowers briefly and the tepals fall of early and easily. Today I was fortunate to find a few colonies in good shape for photos. With this post I would like to honor the memory of my 4th grade teacher, Melvin Gutzler, who took my class to the woods and introduced us to the spring ephemerals. This simple and inexpensive field trip stirred in me a curious fascination about wild plants, which continues over four decades later. As a student of the flora, I have spent many, many delightful hours in quality natural areas. Thank you, Mr. Gutzler!!

Plant Quiz Solved! Ranunculus fascicularis, Early Buttercup

Good call, Phytophactor and Scott. It is "ranunculaceous," and Scott is correct, it is Ranunculus fascicularis. This plant is especially at home on dry, sloping clay soil under a thin growth of oak and hickory. The specific epithet "fascicularis" refers to something being "bunched." The other day I saw this plant with its fascicled (or bunched) roots exposed from erosion. Amazing!

This plant always interests me with its change in appearance as it develops. Below are photos from last year showing how the petioles elongate and the plant thins out as the season progresses.

Hepatica acutiloba, Sharp-Lobed Hepatica

Early spring on wooded slopes can be delightful when Hepatica starts emerging. In northeast Indiana, it is flowering abundantly on rich slopes in the Edna Spurgeon Nature Preserve. Normally I take a series of pictures using a variety of camera settings. Several examples are included here; the differences between the latter two are subtle. Life is good, and spring is wonderful!

Outwitting the Wily Orchids

Dan, Dan, the orchid man McDowell, my mentor for all things botanical, is fond of saying, "Peter, the neat thing about orchids is they can hide, but they can't run." But knowing this to be true is not always helpful in finding the less showy members of the orchid family.

There are three woodland species of orchids here in Indiana that can neither hide, nor run, during the winter months. The green over-wintering leaves are easy to spot among the decaying leaf litter on the forest floor. Find those leaves now before the green-up, mark their location with a GPS and return later when they are in bloom, and likely to be hidden by closely growing associates.

(1) Aplectrum hyemale
Common name: puttyroot, Adam-and-Eve orchid

(2) Tipularia discolor
Common name: crane-fly orchid

(3) Goodyera pubescens
Common name: downy rattlesnake plantain

Aplectrum hyemale sends up a single leaf in late September which is usually shed when the flower stalk is present in May. It is common to find an abundance of leaves at a winter location only to find a few flowering stalks when you return in the spring.




This is the rarer greenish form of Aplectrum hyemale forma pallidum which grows at a site in LaPorte County.


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Tipularia discolor, like the puttyroot, Aplectrum hyemale, produces a single leaf in September which is absent during flowering. I recently counted 22 leaves of this species at a LaPorte County site in April, but found only one flowering stalk when I returned in August.


Note the purple underside of the leaf of Tipularia discolor.



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Unlike the preceding two species, the strikingly patterned foliage of Goodyera pubescens can be found throughout the year, and is present during flowering in July and August.

Pondberry pursuits

Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia) is a federally endangered shrub, and Missouri has just one population on the Arkansas border at Sand Pond Conservation Area (and adjacent TNC property). I got to see it in bloom yesterday.

The area was hard hit by a severe ice storm in January of 2009. The largest overstory trees came crashing down, and the remainder were stripped of all their branches. You can see a large canopy gap in the photo below.

The pondberry was thriving in ankle-deep water at the base of this behemouth blown-down tree. See the person in the background for scale.

The pondberry appears to do best with specific hydrology: it tolerates being innundated with water, but apparently doesn't want water that is too deep (you can see here that it is growing only on the edges of this deeper pond. The water levels are most likely lower than usual this year: southern MO has had a relatively dry winter/spring). In other areas of the preserve, it is growing in somewhat drier areas. Although the pondberry has responded well to the canopy opening created by the ice storm, it is being outcompeted in the drier locations by greenbriar, poison ivy and other shrubs and vines which have also benefitted from the greater light levels. Pondberry seems to thrive only where it is just wet enough to keep the competition down.

The Mysterious Trillium nivale

Even in Indiana, March isn't too early for some good botany. Last weekend, Lee Casebere and I headed to southeastern Indiana in search of the stunning and pre-spring blooming Trillium nivale. The specific epithet nivale means "of the snow," leading to the common name Snow Trillium for this species, which is sometimes seen blooming when snow is covering the ground. According to Wildflowers of South West Indiana, Trillium nivale was in bloom as early as March 3 this year!


There it is, right at home growing from a crevice in a moss-covered limestone outcropping. This is a tough plant, for sure, considering that it can withstand being frozen every night, and that it grows on nearly bare rock. These conditions are exactly what Trillium nivale needs, as it doesn't do well when in competition with other vegetation. Another habitat in which this little wonder is found is in gravelly-sandy alkaline floodplains, where the periodic disturbance of overbank flooding creates conditions where not many plants will grow and Trillium nivale can benefit from the lack of competition.


Trillium nivale has a somewhat spotty distribution throughout the Midwest, Great Lakes, and New England states. Its strongholds appear to be Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, where it is locally abundant. Even so, it is often difficult to predict exactly where you will find Trillium nivale; you can often find it growing abundantly in one spot, yet not find a single plant in the exact same habitat a few hundred feet away. I hope you are all lucky enough to find Snow Trillium in the short time that it blooms, from March to early April.

A Fruit Salad of Mosses (apples and pears, that is)

In early spring botanists get itchy feet and head out to find the first blooms of the season. Unfortunately, they are initially met with standard fare such as Erigenia bulbosa, Lamium amplexicaule or Houstonia minima. If you find yourself in this situation and since you are peering intently at the ground anyway, you may as well keep a humble eye out for a bryophyte or two; no doubt you will see many.

Here are two of the more easily identified mosses you could encounter. Though not a purely unique character, both species have rather spherical capsules. The first is Physcomitrium pyriforme.

In my experience, this moss is usually found in rather disturbed or recently burned areas with full sun and is readily identified by the tongue-like leaves with apiculate tips and the pear-shaped (broadly obovate) capsules; a character from which the species epithet is derived (Pyrus being the genus of pears). The second species is Bartramia pomiforme.

This is a species of higher floristic quality. It is an acidophile and is pretty much restricted to wet sandstone ledges, bluffs and terraces in shaded forests; the kind of places you expect to see an abundance of mosses. With its narrow pointed leaves, yellow-green coloration and soft texture there are few mosses with which to confuse it. The nearly perfect spheres that are the capsules pretty much seal the deal. Though I don't like to perpetuate the use of common names, this one is apt. It is called Apple Moss which jives well with the specific epithet (a pome being the fruit type of the apple). At maturity the capsules turn reddish-brown and then look so much like apples that Eve herself would not be able to resist them.

And if you have no taste for mosses, fruity or otherwise, it won't be long before the woods are once again heavy with tracheophyte greenery and the floral distractions there unto.

An Early Sign of Spring, Corylus americana

I was reading Shrubs of Indiana by Weeks and Parker when I realized that I had never taken the time to find and appreciate the female flowers of American Hazelnut. I found a nice thicket while hiking at Spring Mill State Park, in Lawrence County, Indiana. I like the female flowers, maybe because I had to look for them. Plants are monecious, so you can find both flowers on the same plant.

The male flowers are easy to see from a distance, as they are several inches long, numerous, and hang out in the open.

A Few Indiana Ferns, part 2

"Nature made ferns for pure leaves, to show what she could do in that line." Henry David Thoreau

Silvery Spleenwort, Athyrium thelypteroides

Glade Fern or Narrow-Leaved Spleenwort, Athyrium pycnocarpon

Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-femina