coralroot

cor·al·root

(kôr′əl-ro͞ot′, -ro͝ot′, kŏr′-)

Any of several terrestrial, saprophytic, chiefly New World orchids of the genus Corallorhiza having yellowish-green to purplish-brown leafless stems and small flowers.

[From the corallike appearance of its branched rhizomes.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

coralroot

(ˈkɒrəlˌruːt)

(Plants) any N temperate leafless orchid of the genus Corallorhiza, with small yellow-green or purple flowers and branched roots resembling coral

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

coralroot - European bittercress having a knotted white rootstock

Cardamine bulbifera, coral-root bittercress, coralwort, Dentaria bulbifera

bitter cress, bittercress - any of various herbs of the genus Cardamine, having usually pinnate leaves and racemes of white, pink or purple flowers; cosmopolitan except Antarctic

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References in periodicals archive ?

Corallorhiza trifida (L., Chat.): Early or Northern Coralroot

A field guide to the Orchids of Manitoba

Among these ancient rock formations, and hardly noticed by even the most ardent outdoorsman, is the rare limestone-loving fern and, rarer still, the southern crested coralroot orchid, known in West Virginia only in Smoke Hole.

My valley

Look for explorer's gentian, sidalcea, mariposa lily (Calochortus leichilinii), alpine lily, delphinium, meadow-rue, peony, monkshood, columbine, spiraea, thimbleberry, penstemons, violets, monkeyflower (Mimulus torreyi), paintbrush, fireweed, and, in the orchid family, spotted coralroot.