Flower Plants
Flower Plants
THE SNOW PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA (cont)forest, and red pigmentation seems to be nonfunctional. Snow plants don't have leaves, either, in the usual sense. A saprophyte doesn't need leaves. Snow plants have a succulent stem, six to twelve inches long, covered with scaly remnants of leaves and bell shaped flowers--each one-half to three-quarters of an inch long, with five broad, spreading lobes. Actually, snow plants are mostly root, because they get their living underground. It's what goes on out of sight that is most important to them, what we see is only in response to the underground environment. Snow plants are related to other saprophytes such as the pale, ghostly Indian pipe of other regions. Indians used to utilize the dried and powdered plants as medication for sores and toothaches, but, used incorrectly, it is reportedly poisonous. In many ways snow plants fill a niche similar to mushrooms, which also live on decaying matter.(Page THREE of SEVEN)