Botanists at Denver Botanic Gardens recently found a rare species of orchid in Chatfield Farms, and the discovery could help scientists understand the Farms and if and how conservation efforts are affecting the area. 

The discovery of the coralroot orchid happened during a citizen science event, the City Nature Challenge, at Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield Farms in late April, according to a news release. 

During the event, graduate botany research assistant My-Lan Le and associate director of applied conservation Rebecca Hufft saw a small, peach-colored plant next to a log.

While it may normally have blended in, the darkness of the log made the pinkish-orange plant stand out, Jonathan Amegin, another botanist present during the discovery, said.

The scientists realized it was a striped coralroot orchid — a species that has never been recorded at Chatfield Farms and is very rare in Jefferson County.

“We happened to be looking around in a certain area and we spotted it growing up next to a log,” Amegin said in an interview. “This particular plant is something a lot of people might call a charismatic plant, it’s different from a lot of the plants you see that we are used to. It has some very striking colors and looks almost like a fungus.”

While the plant looks like a fungus, it actually parasitizes fungi for food, he said. They spend a lot of time underground, gathering nutrients from fungi, then shoot up above ground with flowers.

They can’t photosynthesize, so they’re recognizable because they don’t have any green parts and they can live for several decades, according to the news release.

The plants are uncommon in Jefferson County, with the last official collection done in 1905, Amegin said. 

“It’s a cool thing to go out and find something that wasn’t the goal, something you’re not expecting,” he said. 

While it was a rare find, Amegin said it’s possible they’ve grown there previously and weren’t found due to the time of year of surveys. It’s also possible, however, that they are new to the area, which could indicate a change in the environment or the management at Chatfield Farms.

It’s something they’ll be watching over the next few years, he said. Keeping track of the plant will help them understand if there are environmental factors involved. 

Chatfield Farms has been working on restoration efforts over the past several years, and if the species is new to the farm, it could indicate that those efforts are really making a positive impact, he said.

“Because it’s a native plant and because it grows in natural habitats in Colorado and because we haven’t seen it before, it might indicate that the areas we found it are maybe returning to a more natural state,” he said, emphasizing that it’s difficult to know for sure before they spend more time monitoring the plant. 

Hufft said the discovery is a reminder of the importance of observing nature. 

“This finding is exciting because even at a location that we have been working at for over 40 years, we still can find something new that has likely been under our noses this whole time,” Hufft said in the release. “This is a good reminder of how important natural history is and for each of us to keep taking the time to observe nature where we work and live.”

My-Lan Le said the observation will help scientists understand the environment in the Farms better.

“Knowing and documenting which species live in an area is the first step to successfully managing biodiversity and evaluating conservation implications,” Le said.