"Bear Corn" - Conopholis Americana

Here is a little bit of Pseudo survival info for all of you survival junkies out there - East of the Mississippi river. When I was a kid my friends and I would look for this plant in the wood as enthusiastically as we did Morel mushrooms.

It has a flavor all its own. I will look for it this summer in Maine and Hope to find some. I have never seen it in the Boreal forest but Maybe Ill get lucky.

Anyhoo, here is what wikipedia has to say about it. Im too lazy to write it out myself.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Conopholis americana, American cancer-root or squawroot or bear corn, is a perennial, non-photosynthesizing (or "achlorophyllous") parasitic plant, from the family Orobanchaceae and more recently from the genus Conopholis but also listed as Orobanche, native but not endemic to North America and when blooming, resembles a pine cone or cob of corn growing from the roots of mostly oak and beech trees.

Description:
C. americana is parasitic on the roots of woody plants, especially oaks (genus Quercus) and beech (genus Fagus). The only part of the plant generally seen is the cone-shaped inflorescence, which appears above ground in spring. The entire structure is a yellowish color, turning to brown and achieves heights of 10 centimeters (4 in) to 20 centimeters (8 in) tall.

Stems and leaves:
Stout and unbranched 1.3 centimeters (0.5 in) to 2.5 centimeters (1.0 in) thick stems. Since C. americana does not photosynthesize it also does not have true leaves; it has instead simple, ovate, tiny scales 1.3 centimeters (0.5 in) long and brown, which appear underneath each flower.

Flowers:
C. americana produces spikes of yellow to cream flowers densely crowded all around the stem. Each flower is 5-parted, 8 millimeters (0.3 in) to 13 millimeters (0.5 in) long, tubular with a swollen base and facing downwards. As the flowering spike matures and begins to wither and becomes brown throughout the summer and often persisting through the winter, by which time it has become shriveled and black. There is no noticeable floral scent.

Fruits and reproduction:
Each flower is replaced by a seed capsule that is longer than it is wide and contains many small seeds. This plant spreads to new locations by reseeding itself.

Roots:
The root system is parasitic on the roots of Oak trees (Quercus spp.); dependent on the host tree for its nourishment, the suckers of the parasitic roots cause the formation of large rounded knobs on the roots of the host tree.

Distribution:
Found growing on roots in wooded ravines in every state of the United States east of the Mississippi River.