I may have to revisit the whole Corallorhiza approach. Aside from the open flowers, the stalks and buds have a lot of similarities. And there is this (I dug some up and took photos):
Two things struck me immediately. 1) the tubers are much more complex than the initial ones I had found, and 2) there are no roots.
The one from last year in the pot which I had recently found exposed on the surface of the soil, was sending a stalk up into the air, and roots down into the soil, both from the same end of the tuber. It looked perfectly normal and understandable. What I realize now was those were obviously not typical roots, but root-like extensions being sent down into the soil to establish the tubers at the proper depth.
So, if these are orchids, does that mean the tubers are actually modified roots, and not tubers?
As I had mentioned previously, the original tubers I found were in a pile of old mulch (from oak and pine trees we had taken out several years ago). This mulch pile was in full shade. In contrast, the plants I dug for the photos above were growing in a sandy patch in full sun near the corner of the patio. This is right at the access to the open yard from the lanai, so I'm surprised the plants haven't been trampled..
Here's a photo of that area for perspective. If you look close, you can see there are still some of these plants growing there.
I potted up the plants and tuber pieces and will keep an eye on them. Also on the ones left undisturbed among some rocks on the other side of the lanai doorway. Maybe the flowers do open up more, and I have just missed it before. I don't know how I could have missed it before, as I watched them pretty closely last year, anxious to see what this strange plant turned out to be.
