Pterospora andromedea

Pine drops

Family: Ericaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pine drops is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Modoc Plateau, and eastern Sierra Nevada in mixed or conifer forest at elevations of 60 to 3,700 meters. Flowering from June to August, this unusual non-green parasitic plant produces cream to yellow flowers in pendulous, glandular racemes 1.5 to 17 decimeters tall, emerging directly from the ground. Growing without leaves or stems, it appears as a distinctive pink to brown plant with a brittle root system. Its urn-shaped flowers have 5 petals approximately 6 to 9 millimeters long with recurved lobes, emerging from a dense, sticky-glandular inflorescence. The plant produces small capsules less than 1.3 centimeters wide that disperse numerous tiny seeds with minute membranous wings.

Habitat: Mixed or conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 60-3700 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaR, SNH, Teh, TR, PR, MP, SNE (exc W&ampI)

California counties: San Bernardino, Lassen, Tulare, Siskiyou, El Dorado, Kern, Fresno, Riverside, Tuolumne, Trinity, Plumas, Butte, Mendocino, Calaveras, Mariposa, Modoc, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Madera, Mono, Sierra, Placer, Alpine, Stanislaus, Nevada, Shasta, Amador, Glenn, Inyo, San Diego, Tehama, Ventura, Yuba, Lake, Colusa, Del Norte

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.