Snow Plant
Sarcodes sanguinea · Ericaceae
- Form
- Perennial
- Height
- 6–16 in
- Sun
- Part Shade
- Water
- Low
- Blooms
- May, Jun
- Habitat
- Montane
🌿 California native
Quick facts
- Habitat: Montane conifer-forest floor (Big Bear, Sierra)
- Form / size: Fleshy red spike, 6–16 in
- Sun: Shade of conifers · Water: Low (snowmelt)
- When: appears with snowmelt, late spring — unmistakable
Description
One of the most startling plants in the mountains: a brilliant blood-red, fleshy, asparagus-like spike that pushes straight up through the conifer duff (sometimes right at the edge of melting snow) in late spring. It has no chlorophyll — it’s a mycoheterotroph, stealing sugars from soil fungi that are partnered with conifer roots, so it never makes a green leaf. Look, photograph, but don’t pick or dig (it can’t be transplanted and is protected in many areas).
Wildlife & pollinators
Bumble bees work the red urn-shaped flowers.
Habitat & range
Montane and lower subalpine conifer forest of the Sierra, Cascades, and higher SoCal mountains (around Big Bear), in deep shade and duff.
In the garden
Not cultivable — it depends on a specific fungus–conifer network. A wild-only treasure.
Propagation
Effectively impossible in cultivation (mycoheterotrophic). Enjoy it in place.
Where to see it near you
- iNaturalist — observed across California (map)
- Conifer-forest floor around Big Bear and the Eastern Sierra after snowmelt.
