Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Corallorhiza wisteriana
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy reading Orchids of the Francis Marion National Forest by Jim Fowler.
Learn more about Spring Coralroot from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Corallorhiza wisteriana
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Corallorhiza wisteriana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Corallorhiza wisteriana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-20-003:
Corallorhiza wisteriana FAMILY Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Corallorrhiza wisteriana
COMMON NAME:
Spring Coralroot, Wister's Coralroot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cowi2_001_lvd
)
Jim Fowler jafcorallorhizaw_4040208
February Marion County FL
Lip bright white and usually dotted with vivid magenta-purple spots, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: The Story.
)
Jim Fowler jafcoralwist_group040208
February Marion County FL
Usually in small colonies of 2-12 stems, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm100313_236
March Grady County GA
Wolf Creek Preserve
)
Mark A. Musselman mam_coralroot032710
March Dorchester County SC
Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
)
Mark A. Musselman mam_coralroot032710c
March Dorchester County SC
Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
The lips resemble little tongues hanging from each open flower, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: The Story.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_wisteriana_2
May
Stem yellowish-brown to purplish partly because the plant lacks chlorophyll, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Corallorhiza wisteriana
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Corallorhiza wisteriana
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Corallorhiza wisteriana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Corallorhiza wisteriana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-20-003:
Corallorhiza wisteriana
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Corallorrhiza wisteriana
367
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist to dry forests, usually in base-rich soils, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon in Coastal Plain of GA & SC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
None
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
Light brown/ Dark reddish-brown
occasionally yellowish
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p229
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p018
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p347
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p179
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p399
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p044
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p391
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p024