My husband and I took a trip to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon this past Sunday. When we stopped at a view point we decided to take a little walk into the woods to see if we couldnt find any mushrooms that would be appetizing. While walking we came across this very unusual plant or fungus that neither of us has seen before or have been able to identify within the last few days. It resembles a translucent flower, it is a smoky white color with some black markings on it as well. It has a very stong odor that resembles a mushroom, in the inside of it, it looks almost like it has pollen thus the confusion between whether it is plant or fungus. I will be attaching some photos of it to help with the identification of this odd vegetation. This freak of nature has no roots and excretes a sticky liquid when taking it apart. It seems to have flower petals on the head of it and is all in all just a very weird and interesting specimen. Please you have any idea what this thing is let us know. Thank you so much for any information you may have on this plant.
Monotropa uniflora. A non-photosynthetic flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. It is a parasitic plant, getting its energy from other plants via fungi.
WOW you guys are fast and you know your stuff. Thanks for a quick reply we greatly appreciate it. We feel bad now however discovering that it is a very rare plant and that we took it out of its natural habitat. BAD US!! Thank you again, much appreciated. We'll think twice about picking before identifying again.
I didn't know it was uncommon! I've known this plant since I was a little kid. It can be seen in the woods of northern michigan where I spend my vacation every year. It is a neat plant, isn't it! I'll have to spend a little more time looking at it next year when I come across one.
"It's Uncommon!" I also did not know that and I encounter it in several places around my property. Always under pine trees though.
