Tahoe wildflowers. Continuing my sporadic round-up of California wildflowers photographed on the Tahoe trails but not included in my accounts published back in August.
 Here is a botanical curiosity. I saw a good many of these popping up on the forest floor under the dry and bare canopy of conifers that shaded out any other wildflowers. A passing hiker told me they are called Snowflowers which directed me to their Latin name Sarcodes sanguinea and more information about them.
 Sure enough they are known to appear soon after the snow has melted in the Sierra Nevadas. It is in fact the only plant in the genus Sarcodes and is parasitic- it derives sustenance from mycorrhizal fungi attached to the roots of trees. Actually symbiotic would be a better word: it gives fixed carbon to the fungus and receives minerals and water. Mindblowing!
 When I saw them I thought this might be the case due to the absence of any greenery; such plants contain no chlorophyll and do not photosynthesize. As such they are adapted to growing in depths of shade that would defeat other flowering plants.