Candystick, Allotropa Virgata

Day 244: Without a shadow of doubt, Candystick (Allotropa virgata) is one of the most unusual plants you will find in Pacific Northwestern forests. This mycoheterotrophic species resembles nothing quite so much as a stick of peppermint candy with its red and white stripes, and like many of Mount Rainier National Park's other mycoheterotrophs, it is appearing in abundance this year, and in places where this observer has not previously seen it. These specimens were photographed in the Longmire Stewardship Campground on June 13, 2015. Other clusters of a dozen or more spikes, some a foot tall or more, were noted within the space of approximately one acre.