There is something unearthly about parasitic plants. The subject comes to mind because I've been corresponding with someone about a mystery species they spotted which may or may not be a parasitic plant.
 The one shown above is a Snowflower (Sarcodes sanguinea) which I saw last year when I was hiking in the mountains around Lake Tahoe in California. Few other wildflowers grow in the arrid soil of the pine forest but these were frequent. They emerge after the snow melts hence the name.
 Unlike the vast majority of plants S. sanguinea does not contain chlorophyll and does not photosynthesize. Instead it derives sustenance from mycorrhizal funghi attached to the roots of trees. Symbiotic might be a better word than parasitic: it gives fixed carbon to the fungus and takes from it minerals and water.