Common Name:
PINE-DROPS, GIANT'S BIRD'S-NEST
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
10
Coefficient of Wetness:
5
Wetness Index:
UPL
Physiognomy:
Nt P-Forb
Status:
T
J. Kelly
Quite rare and local, not to be relied upon to appear every year; nearly always in habitats with conifers (especially pines but also hemlock, spruce, fir, white-cedar), in dryish (usually sandy or rocky) soil, often with common juniper and sometimes aspen or birch. Most frequent in open woods near the shores of the Great Lakes, much less common inland.
The species is disjunct between the Great Lakes region and the Black Hills and mountains to the west; also scattered eastward to Quebec and New England, but becoming very rare. Often said to be parasitic on the roots of pine, but presumably parasitic on fungus that forms mycorrhizae with pine and perhaps other conifers.
The corolla is white and flask-shaped, resembling that of Andromeda. The sepals and vegetative parts of the plant are reddish or maroon, very clammy-viscid. Individuals usually have many more flowers and are usually twice (or more) as tall as the average individual of Hypopitys, which it might otherwise seem to resemble.