Nature Journal: Late winter a great time to spot native orchid species

Earlier this week, my daughter, Quintin, and I walked down the creek below our place. After the recent cold weather, the mild temperatures and sunny woodlands were a delight. Our German shorthaired pointers — all five of them — were so excited to get out and do something they raced up and down the trail, constantly coming back, as shorthairs do, to make sure we were following in the appropriate manner.

When we paused for a moment, I happened to glance at the nearby hillside and spotted the largest clump of puttyroot I've ever encountered. There were at least 20 leaves in a circular space not as large as the top of a garbage can. Normally, one happens upon single leaves spread at intervals throughout rocky woodlands that are rather subdued in color, but these were iridescent — emerald-colored — in the pale winter sunlight.

Note: This column originally was published Feb. 26, 2010.

As curious as it may seem, winter is the prime time to locate and identify two of our native orchid species. The basal leaves of puttyroot (Aplectrum hymale) and cranefly orchis (Tipularia discolor) emerge in late summer, after the flowering period, and are conspicuous from late November into early spring. Then as the flowering stems emerge in spring, the leaves wither and disappear. For this reason, they are sometimes called winter leaf or hibernal orchids, but I think of them as winter orchids.

This winter leaf strategy obviously evolved as an efficient way to collect the sun's energy in rich hardwood forests when the leaf canopy is absent. Both plants have prominent bulb-shaped roots (corms) well adapted for energy storage. Once the canopy closes overhead in spring, the leaves die back to allow the stored energy to channel directly into flowering and fruiting processes.

Cranefly orchis derived its common name from the fancied resemblance of its delicate flowers to the insect of that name. Although the plant is rather common throughout Western North Carolina, it is inconspicuous when flowering. The winter leaf is its outstanding feature. The upper side is dark green and purple spotted with wart-like bumps, so that, in some ways, it resembles a toad's back. The underside is a rich satiny purple.

Puttyroot, also called Adam-and-Eve root, is my favorite of the two. It is quite common throughout the region. The attractive gray-green oval leaf can grow up to 7 inches long by 3 inches wide. As described by Doug Elliott in "Roots: An Underground Botany and Forager's Guide" (1976): "This leaf has thin, white pinstripes, is folded like a pleated skirt, green on the top side, with a tinge of purple underneath."

One of puttyroot's common names comes from a mucilaginous fluid that can be removed from the tubers, when crushed. I've never done so, but numerous sources report that the early white settlers made a paste from this fluid used to mend broken crockery and other items. Long before their arrival on the scene, the Cherokees, according to Paul B. Hamel and Mary U. Chiltoskey in "Cherokee Plants and Their Uses" (1975), had discovered the high-energy content of this rootstock and fed it to their babies so as to make them fleshy and fat. They also speculated that consuming this fare might enable their babies to grow up and be eloquent orators.

The other common name, Adam-and-Eve root, is derived from the fact that this year's leaf-bearing corm (Eve) remains attached to last year's corm (Adam) by a strand (stolon) of umbilical-like root filament. Elliott, a friend who is a professional storyteller of considerable repute, also reports that the root system has "a cupid-like reputation for helping to maintain the bond between lovers [who] each receive one of the corms ... As the legend goes, so long as the pair maintains possession of their respective roots, their bond shall remain strong and true."

Be that as it may, it was a good day to be walking a mountain trail beside a sparkling creek with my daughter and five dogs. Encountering the emerald-green stand of puttyroot was a bonus.

George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. His wife, Elizabeth Ellison, is a watercolor artist and papermaker who has a gallery-studio in Bryson City. Contact them at info@georgeellison.com or info@elizabethellisonwatercolors.com or write to P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, NC 28713