The Plant

Photo by Jim Jung

Beechdrops

Beechdrops are mysterious little plants with very little known about their life cycle, pollinators or means of dispersal. Since they're parasitic on Beech Trees the greatest mystery is how their seeds – dispersed aboveground – ever manage to reach the roots of their Beech Tree host underground in time to complete what all Authorities agree is its annual (the plant germinates, grows, flowers, sets seed and dies all within the space of a year) life cycle. Another mystery is why they would maintain this annual life cycle when their host plant is a long-lived perrennial – a matter your author intends to investigate.

Beechdrops look like the dying stems of some small forest herb and are easily overlooked – especially since they only appear aboveground to flower for a few weeks in the fall. The rest of the time this secretive little parasite spends entirely underground attached to the roots of its Beech Tree host where it intercepts nutrients on their way to the tree. Since this plant is totally dependent on its host for all its needs it has no use for chlorophyll and has lost the ability to photosynthesize. As a result the flowering stems (the only part of the plant usually visible) are a pale greenish-yellow with just the flowers showing any pigment at all – a dark, wine red.

Beechdrops were used in the 19th century for the treatment of cancer – principally stubborn external ulcers which resisted all other treatments – which explains their other common name: Cancer Root. The macerated stems were mixed with white arsenic and then applied to the affected area as a poultice. At the time this was probably better than doing nothing at all for the suffering patient but applying arsenic to an open wound doesn't sound healthy. Needless to say this plant is no longer used medicinally.

For more about related plants, Indian Pipes and Pinesap, visit Ghost Flowers in our Feature Archive.

The flower

Photo by Jim Jung

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