Common name: Pinedrop
Family: Ericaceae
Information: Pterospora andromedea is a saprophyte, meaning it is parasitic and gains its nutrients from dead or decaying organic matter, instead of producing its own. They can grow up to 2 meters tall and are considered the tallest parasitic plant in Coastal BC. They occur in mature forests, coniferous or mixed, mostly under pine trees (hence the name of the plant). They occur in shaded areas with moist ground and rich humus soils. Elevations found: 60 to 3,700 meters above sea level.
Photo: In the Subalpine/Montane forest in South Chilcotin Mtns. Provincial Park at an approx. elevation of 1550 m. N. Hewitt, July 28 2019.
Sources and additional resources:
Pojar, J. & MacKinnon, A. (2014). Plants of Coastal British Columbia: Including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing.
United States Forest Service. (n.d.). Pterospora andromedea – Pinedrops. Retrieved from https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/mycotrophic/pterospora_andromedea.shtml
Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Pterospora%20andromedea. Accessed: 2020-05-12.
