An Unconventional Calendar
The Puttyroot Orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) operates on a schedule unlike most plants in Ohio's deciduous forests. In late autumn, as canopy trees drop their foliage, this orchid sends up a single, distinctive basal leaf. The leaf is typically 10 to 20 cm long, bluish-green, and detailed with silvery-white parallel veins, giving it a pleated or wrinkled texture. This solitary leaf remains throughout the winter, often under snow, taking advantage of the unobstructed sunlight reaching the forest floor. It can perform photosynthesis in temperatures just above freezing.
Come spring, as the forest canopy begins to fill in and block the light, the leaf withers and disappears. Soon after, from late May to early June, a leafless flower stalk, or scape, emerges, growing up to 60 cm tall. The stalk bears a raceme of 7 to 15 small flowers. Each flower, about an inch long, has greenish-yellow sepals and petals, often tinged with purple, and a prominent white lower lip speckled with magenta. This separation in time between energy production (photosynthesis in winter) and reproductive effort (flowering in spring) is an adaptation to its woodland environment.
Roots, Glue, and Fungi
The orchid's common names reveal much about its biology and historical uses. "Puttyroot" comes from the sticky, mucilaginous substance produced when its underground storage organs, called corms, are crushed. This paste was used by Native Americans and early settlers as a glue to mend broken pottery. The name "Adam-and-Eve orchid" refers to the paired corms typically found underground. Each year, a new corm ("Eve") forms from the previous year's corm ("Adam"), which remains attached as it withers.
This orchid's survival is also dependent on a subterranean partnership. Like many orchids, Aplectrum hyemale seeds are minuscule and lack sufficient food reserves to germinate on their own. They require a symbiotic relationship with specific mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. The fungus provides nutrients to the germinating seed and developing plant. This relationship is important because the orchid is often found in moist forests, particularly near beech and sugar maple trees, with which it may share fungal partners.