Last year as we were pulling French Broom from the sunny hillside above the Evergreen entrance, a runner hurried by asking whether we had seen the orchid. Of course, we had missed it on our way to the hillside stand of broom, but we found it on the way back. A tiny pinkish stalk with little blossoms placed at the end of seed vessels standing alone very close to the trail--a miracle that it had survived and a bigger miracle that we had (with prompting) located it. Nevertheless, it was exciting to find a 
native orchid in Garber Park. We quickly learned that many people were interested in this perennial and after a wide-ranging collaboration, we agreed that the proper identification was corallorhiza maculata -- ironically, Spotted Pacific Coralroot, even though our orchid had no spots. The May 5, 2010 photographs illustrate the robust condition of "our" orchid. Attended only by
a native cucumber vine, the orchid stood unbothered throughout its seed producing cycle and appeared to have added a good crop of miniscule seeds to the hillside below.In 2010 we did not locate any other orchids either above or below the one pictured here. We were hopeful that 2011 would reveal more examples of this special flower in Garber Park. Tilden and Joaquin Miller had also produced a few Coralroots in 2010.
Since we knew where to look, this year we located the orchid at an early stage of its development and photographed it emerging on April 26, 2011. We would have expected the wet and lingering spring of 2011 to produce a robust orchid to match last year's example. But from the beginning, the 2011 plant was smaller and less fruitful. In full bloom by May 19, this or
chid had perhaps half as many or fewer blossoms and seed vessels as last year's. In spite of the ambient moisture, the 2011 orchid appeared dessicated and struggling. It seems to have produced two or three seed vessels but the fate of these is unknown. By July 4, 2011 the orchid was a bare stalk. Again in 2011 we failed to find other Coralroots in the vicinity.
Other than successive observation, we really do not know enough to arrive at an idea of the processes at work here. The East Bay ridge botanic community is actively looking for and reporting instances of Coralroot and we look forward to new, observation based understandings of this unique flower. Its recurring presence in Garber Park, however, speaks to the range and quality of natural resources in the park. We will keep look for and photographing this plant in hopes of contributing to the ongoing general and scientific interest it generates.
