Corallorrhiza trifida
 
Early Coralroot

Flower Front

Center Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park
11-June-2013

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Trifida: Answers to key questions in Lilies, Irises & Orchids of Saskatchewan by Vernon L. Harms and Anna L. Leighton leading to this species. The answers are in the order you would normally work through the key.
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Sepals and lateral petals not purple-striped, but sometimes spotted or suffused with purple; lip white, with or without purple spots, at most 8 (9) mm long, inconspicuously 3-lobed, the lateral lobes short and along sides of base of lip; NOT [Sepals and lateral petals purple-striped; lip purplish or purple-striped, generally over 8 mm long, entire or wavy-margined, lacking lateral lobes]

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Stems 4-30 cm high, slender, pale greenish-yellow with sheathing bracts usually not reaching much above the middle of the stem; flowers less than 8 mm long, pale yellowish-green; lip white, inconspicuously spotted, 2.5-4 mm long; rhizome whitish; NOT [Stems 20-40 (50) cm high, often stout, yellowish-brown to reddish-purple with sheathing bracts that extend to well above the middle; flowers over 1 cm long, yellowish-brown to purplish; lip white, usually conspicuously purplish-spotted, (4) 6-8 (9) mm long; rhizome brownish]

 

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Corallorhiza: Answers to key questions in Lilies, Irises & Orchids of Saskatchewan by Vernon L. Harms and Anna L. Leighton leading to this genus. The answers are in the order you would normally work through the key. 
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Plants non-green saprophytes lacking leaf-blades; flowering stems yellowish to purplish-red or brown (pale greenish-yellow in C. trifid), bearing sheathing bracts; rhizomes rootless, coral-like in their branching; capsules drooping; NOT [Plants green, with at least some green leaf-blades, these sometimes early withering or late developing; flowering stems green (pale pink to purplish-red in Calypso bulbosa), bearing sheathing bracts in some species; rootstocks not coral-like; capsules spreading to erect (occasionally drooping when old)]

 

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Orchidaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family. 
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plants NOT aquatic

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flowers irregular; NOT [flowers regular]

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perianth present, conspicuous, in two series of 3 segments, often brightly colored; NOT [perianth absent or inconspicuous]

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perianth usually large, consisting of sepals and petals usually alike, variously colored; NOT [perianth small, consisting of 3 green sepals and 3 whitish petals]

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petals NOT deciduous

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stamens 1 or 2; NOT [stamens 3 or 6]