As the flowering spike matures it begins to wither and becomes brown throughout the summer and often persisting through the winter, by which time it has become shriveled and black. 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.

Flowers Ĭonopholis americana produces spikes of yellow to cream flowers densely crowded all around the stem. 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 at the base of each flower. The plant has stout and unbranched 1.3 centimeters (0.5 in) to 2.5 centimeters (1 in) thick stems. It achieves heights of 10 centimeters (4 in) to 20 centimeters (8 in) tall. The entire structure is a yellowish color, turning to brown. The only part of the plant generally seen is the cone-shaped inflorescence, which appears above ground in spring. Description Ĭonopholis americana is parasitic on the roots of woody plants, especially oaks (genus Quercus) and beech (genus Fagus). When blooming, it resembles a pine cone or cob of corn growing from the roots of mostly oak and beech trees. It is from the family Orobanchaceae and more recently from the genus Conopholis but also listed as Orobanche, native but not endemic to North America. Conopholis americana, the American cancer-root, bumeh or bear corn, is a perennial, non- photosynthesizing (or ' achlorophyllous') parasitic plant.

Bear spike plant