Sierra Fringed Pinesap Spotted on the ART

In the Spring the spectacular bright red Snow Plant marks the end of winter and is a unique color change in the green forest of the Sierra.

Called a saprophyte in the past, snow plant, pine drops, candy stick, coral root orchid and others are now identified as mycoheterotrophs…a plant that does not use the sun and green chlorophyll for photosynthesis. Instead, with a fungal intermediary, consumes decaying organic matter in the forest floor. They are all flowering plants and many are members of the Heath family.

Recently, on the Arnold Rim Trail, in the dark shade of the understory, there appeared such a rare mycoheterotroph that in my lifetime in the Sierra, I had never seen it.  I had only read about it.  But here it was.  Spotted by a young girl on Mary Anne Carlton’s,  “Know Your Conifers” nature hike, it is a truly a spectacular find.  It is Sierra Fringed Pinesap, Pleuricospora fimbriolata.

Sierra Fringed Pinesap is a perennial, meaning it can return year after year to the same spot, but spots are uncommon.  The fruits are eaten by small mammals and seeds later dispersed. Fine hairs on the sepals give it its species name.

What a treat to know that there is always something new to find and learn about on the ART.

Nancy E. Muleady-Mecham, Ph.D.