Synonyms: Beech Drops, Leptamnium virginianum.
Beechdrops grow throughout much of eastern North America. They lack chlorophyll so are incapable of photosynthesis. They obtain their nutrition by parasitizing the roots of American Beech trees. Their genus name, Epifagus, comes from Greek: "epi" meaning upon, and "fagus" meaning beech.
When young, these slender plants are cream, tan, or purple-striped. With age, they turn brown. The stems, which grow to 6-18 inches tall, are commonly much branched. The leaves are reduced to scales, located beneath some of the flowers. Beechdrops produce two kinds of flowers: The upper ones, which are few, are open (chasmogamous) but most of these are sterile; the lower flowers, which are more numerous, are closed (cleistogamous, or "secret"), self-pollinating, and set fruit in the bud. These lower flowers produce most of the seeds of this annual plant. "The fruits that form are capsules containing many small seeds. The young seedlings begin to grow into the tissue of the host roots. Special short roots called grappers form, and structures called haustoria develop from the roots. These haustoria “suck” nutrients from the roots of the host plant" (Lobstein, 2020).
Beechdrops grow beneath Beech trees. Because of Beechdrops' dull color, the plants often go unnoticed. They germinate, grow, and set seed in late summer and early fall. The dead, dry stems may persist through the winter.
The upper, open flowers are pollinated by the False Honey Ant.
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