Squawroot

Squawroot, Conopholis americana, is an odd plant that has the look of something struggling to stay alive. The photo shows it in full bloom and despite the pale coloration, this is a plant in peak condition. My first encounter with this plant left me wondering just what kind of oddity I had found.

The flower spikes emerge from the ground looking like malformed pine cones. Squawroot is like the person that never seems to fit in. In the middle of a woods full of enchanting and delicate spring flowers, you have this brute of a spike pushing through the leaves, displaying its unhealthy looking browns and pale yellows. It’s not hard to see why some hikers give it a wide berth, as though afraid of contracting whatever disease has ravaged the plant.

The flower buds are hidden behind rough looking scales. The emerging flowers push themselves up over the lip of the scale.

Squawroot is parasitic on oak trees. The bulk of the plant is underground where it bonds with the roots of the tree. It’s one of those odd plants that lacks chlorophyll and takes all of its energy from the host. I’m always encouraged by plants like this since a healthy parasite population is normally indicative of healthy hosts.

Squawroots often form large clusters of flower stalks. I’ve never seen any flying insects around these plants, so I don’t know what the pollinator might be. Crab spiders often hide on the flowers indicting that there must be some insect that visits. It’s possible that it is visited by some species of moth or other night flying insect. Maybe I should design a trap that can be put over the flowers to collect any insect visitors. I’ll add that to my ever growing list of things to do.