Pacific coralroot
Corallorhiza mertensiana
Plants & Mosses
Shaded conifer forest floor
June 2021–2026
Meet this species
Pacific coralroot is a native forest orchid that can be easy to miss until its pink-purple flowering stalks rise through moss, needles and fallen cones on the forest floor. Unlike most familiar plants, coralroots contain little or no chlorophyll and rely on relationships with underground fungi associated with forest soils and tree roots. At Glasgow, repeated observations show the species at different stages, from emerging shoots to full flowering.
Close-up of Pacific coralroot flowers on a pink-purple stem against the shaded forest floor.
What to look for:
Look for reddish-purple or pink stems emerging directly from the forest floor, without the broad green leaves typical of most flowering plants. When in bloom, the small orchid flowers have pale lips patterned with darker purple markings.
Why It Matters Here:
Pacific coralroot helps tell the forest end of the watershed-to-ocean story. The estuary does not begin at the shoreline: water, nutrients, sediment and organic matter move downslope through a living forest long before reaching Glasgow Creek. Coralroot is a reminder that the visible plant is only one part of a larger network connecting fungi, trees, soil and decaying wood.
Field Record
Documented at Greene Point through field observations and photographs recorded on iNaturalist.