RHH's photos with the keyword: candystick

This is a plant without chlorophyll and without leaves that is quite common in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. For obvious reasons it is known as Candystick or Sugarstick. These were photographed along the Thunder Creek trail while hiking there with our oldest daughter.

This not only looks like a candystick, that actually is its common name. It is one of our favorite wildflowers, a plant without chlorophyll and without leaves. The flowers are the tiny clusters of purple along the stem. This plant is just coming into bloom and will continue to grow, reaching a total height of about 18 inches. The old stem from last year is at the bottom of the picture. It was photographed on Whidbey Island near Deception Pass State Park.

These are the flowers of a very unusual plant called Candystick or Sugarstick, Allotropa virgata. The plant has no leaves and no chlorophyll, but puts up a 12-18 inch (30-45 cm) candy-striped flower spike in midsummer. In this example the lower flowers, which are white, are open showing the red pistil and ten blackish stamens. The upper flowers are unopened. The photo was taken by my wife along the Deer Park Road in Olympic National Park.

Candystick or Sugarstick is a strange plant in the Ericaceae (i.e., it is related to the heathers). It is without chlorophyll and is leafless and is found in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, sometimes in abundance. The red and white stem persists long ofter the flowers are finished, but this plant is flowering with the lowermost flowers already open. It grows to a foot and a half tall (45cm) and its botanical name is Allotropa virgata.

Candystick or Sugarstick, Allotropa virgata, is a saprophytic plant that feeds off decaying material in the soil and is without chlorophyll. It is fairly common in mixed or coniferous forests and these were photographed in the thick forests on Hoypus Hill near Deception Pass on the northern end of western Washington's Whidbey Island. Sadly when we went back to see them fully grown, some lout had destroyed them all, not entirely surprising, since they were right along one of the popular trails in that area. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/06/whidbey-isl...