Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Order: Ericales

Family: Ericaceae -- heath

Common Name: pinedrops, woodland pinedrops

Species Code: PTAN2

Origin: Native to dry to mesic forests, especially ponderosa pine forests, of western North America from British Columbia to California and east to South Dakota, Nebraska, and Texas.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial, saprophytic or parasitic, lacking chlorophyll; flowering stems reddish brown, erect, simple, 30-100 cm tall, glandular-hairy; dried stems often persisting after seed dispersal and frequently thru the winter.

Mature height: 12-36 inches

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: forest

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: lacking chlorophyll , alternate, reduced to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate scales or bracts, widely spaced above, crowded and becoming imbricate at the stem base.

Flowers: numerous, borne in an elongated raceme, pedicels 5-15 mm long; corolla pendulous, glabrous, 5-8 mm long, pale yellow, globose-urceolate, lobes 5, connate most of the length, reflexed at the tip; calyx deeply 5 lobed, the sepals 2-4 mm long, glandular-hairy, reddish.

Flower color: yellow

Bloom: June, July, August

Fruit: capsule, depressed-globose, 8-12 mm wide; seeds flat, lanceolate, straw-colored, less than 2 mm wide, with a terminal membranous wing.

Characteristics:
Some taxonomists place P. andromedea in the family Ericaceae, subfamily Monotropoideae. Others elevate Monotropoideae to family status as Monotropaceae.
Plant is a monocarpic perennial, emerging from the ground only once to flower and produce seed. After producing seed, the plant dies.
Bakshi (1959) counted 2n=16, but was only able to find enough material for 3 counts and states that further counts are needed to confirm the number.
Flowers are perfect.
Some native peoples used the plant medicinally (Moerman 2004).
Fruit is a capsule.
Pollen is sometimes released before the flower opens, but insects also visit the flowers (Bakshi 1959).
Seeds are windborne (Bakshi 1959).

Comments: P. andromedea has been variously described as a saprophyte and a parasite on the roots of other plants. Plants have no chlorophyll and form a relationship with a fungus. Bakshi (1959) found no evidence of any connection to the roots of other plants and concluded the plants are actually parasitic on the fungi.

Sun requirement: none, does not photosynthesize

Soil moisture: mesic

Fire: Probably survives fires by remaining underground for most of its life cycle.

Sowing time: no data available

Transplant time: no data available

Stratification: no data available

Seed yield: no data available

Seed harvest: easy

Seed first harvest: monocarpic perennial

Seed cleaning: no data available

Planting duration: monocarpic perennial

Seed insect problem: no data available

Seed shatter: no data available

Seed size: small

Seed harvest date: no data available

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native perennial upland forb

Propagation:
Seeds are very small. Bakshi (1959) found that 100 seeds weighed 0.0005 grams. He was not successful in germinating any seed, despite 33 different treatments. Seeds remained viable for only 3-9 days. Transplant trials also failed.
Reproduces sexually by seed and probably by lateral roots forming new plants.

References:
Bakshi, Trilochan S. 1959. Ecology and Morphology of Pterospora andromedea. Botanical Gazette 120:203-217.

Moerman, Dan. 2003. Native American Ethnobotany: a Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants. University of Michigan-Dearborn. Accessed 3/4/10 online at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium