Monotropa coccinea, in the Ericaceae family. Incredibly odd looking plant. Have you ever seen Little Shop Of Horrors? - "feed me, Seymour!
Found on the Hidden Valley Inn Reserve, Mountain Pine Ridge. This red form is called Monotropa coccinea (Taxonomy for this genus has not been finished yet). Also known as Indian ghost pipes (monotropa uniflora). This is the flowering stalk; the rest of the plant body is underground, where it parasitizes mycorrhizal fungi (it tricks these fungi -- that trade minerals and water with plants for sugars -- into infecting it, but gives nothing in return).
Photograph by Roni Martinez
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