RHH's photos with the keyword: pterospora

These are the buds of the saprophytic, leafless plant, Pinedrops, Pterospora andromeda. We found this growing everywhere along the Old Blewett Road last summer, in some places in huge clumps and with some of the tallest spikes (3 ft.) we had ever seen. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/08/old-blewett...

These are not the same saprophytes I posted a day or two ago. Those were Pinesap, these are Pine-drops, Pterospora andromeda. Like the others, however, they are nearly leafless and without chlorophyll and both belong to the heather family. The flowers are not yet opened, but the picture below shows some of the opened flowers. The photo is my wife's taken along a forest service road in the Cascades north of Mount Rainier. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/08/near-greenw...