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Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea)

Snow plant or snow flower (Sarcodes sanguinea) is a mycoheterotrophic plant that appears in high elevation forests shortly following snowmelt. Bright red, it lacks chlorophyll and instead relies on fungi (opposed to typical photosynthesis) for nutrients. Due to snow plant's beauty and rarity, collection is prohibited under California law.


Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Thunder Mountain Trail, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Thunder Mountain Trail, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Thunder Mountain Trail, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Thunder Mountain Trail, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), cluster at the base of a red fir sapling. Snow plant obtains its nutrients from underground fungal fibers (known as mycelia), which in turn have a symbiotic or mycorrhizal relationship with conifers. For this reason, these non-photosynthesizing wildflowers are limited to the immediate vicinity of conifers. Thunder Mountain Trail, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), highly detailed close-up with focus on a single flower in bloom. Carson Spur, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Carson Spur, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Carson Spur, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), highly detailed close-up of a single blooming flower. This view clearly reveals the bright red stigma and dark brown anthers inside the flower, as well as the tiny glandular hairs on the curling leaves. Carson Spur, Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California, USA.
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Next Plant: Sugarstick (Allotropa virgata)



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All images copyright Timothy Boomer. All rights reserved worldwide.