Corallorhiza with brown flowers from Nurmijärvi.Corallorhiza trrifida, harajuuri

Corallorhiza trifida belongs to those orchids in Finland, which have almost no chlorophyll and which are therefore totally depenting on theyre mycorrhiza.Occuring in Finland. This species only gets some green colour when the seeds are  starting to form, and Corallorhiza also propably assimilates then. 

Corallorhiza is about 10 cm or 4" heigh, fresh green or brown plant. The flowers are small, guite beautyful and theyre lip is white. There are few flowers per plant, usually no more than ten. The plant lives from its Rhizome. That has a form of corals and is very fragile. There are no real roots (despite the Finnish common name, harajuuri = spreadroot) and the mycorrhiza coming out from the rhizome gives Corallorhiza its water and nutriense. Sometimes the whole ground of some woods can be fylled with rhizomes of Corallorhizas. In good years there might be hundreds of flowering plants, in other years none. As mentioned before, Corallorhiza can use light to grow its large seedpods, this iSeeds forming to plant photographed in Espoo.s only species of Finnish "saprophyte" which is able to do that. Corallorhiza can be found from wet Picea-woods, where it is not very rare. I have seem the personal dry seedbods of this species also from a open marsh, but it is exeptional. 

Corallorhiza is common in whole Finland, althought it might sometimes be hard to find. 

Corallorhiza flowers in May-June, but plants with seeds are easiest to find from July on. 

Green Corallorhiza from Eckerö in Ahvenanmaa. 

(last page) 


  
 These pages has been made and updated by Matti Niissalo, sophronitis@yahoo.com