#candystick

VIVA X BRANCH!!!

Fuvk being scared of shipping do whatever you want, who cares abt canon?

Every ship is a valid ship

Closeups are due to text bubbles so its more readable

If you’ve visited some of the lower-elevation areas of the park lately, such as Ohanapecosh or Longmire, you may have noticed some beautiful but odd-looking plants growing along the trails. These plants, which go by such colorful names as candystick, pinesap, and coralroots, lack leaves or chlorophyll, and are known as “mycoheterotrophs.” Mycoheterotrophs are plants that don’t create any of their own energy, instead taking their food from the vast fungal networks beneath the forest floor. As the fungus gets nothing in return, these flowers are an uncommon example of plants acting as a parasite on a fungus, rather than the other way around! 

Since they don’t require sunlight, these plants are able to thrive in the deep shade of the forest floor. Although they may look and act similarly, many of these species are quite distantly related to one another – some are in the orchid family, while others are in the same family as huckleberries and azaleas (Ericaceae)! Though the giant trees of the old-growth forest get lots of well-deserved attention, these plants are a good reminder to look down as well.

_____ NPS/ B. Silver-Bates photos:  (top) Candystick (Allotropa virgata), slender red-and-white plants covered in small flowers emerging from the forest floor.

(bottom left) Pacific Coralroot (Corallorhiza mertensiana), a small magenta orchid in front of a decaying log.

(bottom right) Pinesap (Monotropa hypopytis), a pinkish plant covered in bell-shaped white flowers emerging from the forest floor.

Can anyone say "absolutely gorgeous"?

🌿💙🌲