Any guess?

[Steven L. Stephenson]

Last week, someone sent me the description given below.  I'm relatively new to Arkansas, having moved here from the Southern Appalachians a couple of years ago.  As a result, I'm not real familiar with the local flora as yet.  The description doesn't bring anything to mind.  Does anyone have a guess as to what this might be?

   Steve

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Rare Ozark Plant Description

Perhaps you can help me to ID a plant I saw some years ago (~1980) in Devil's Canyon near the Franklin-Crawford Co. line near Fern, AR.  The month was September, and I do not recall the climactic conditions that particular fall, although I do remember seeing a 4.5' water moccasin while climbing into the canyon.  I returned to the canyon in 2003 to search for the plant with no success.  

The canyon drains southwestward, and the afternoon light reflecting from the trees and bluff results in diffuse illumination within the canyon setting, resulting in a unique ecologic environment.  My geology friend at UA said his mother was a botanist, and she had stated the canyon was a 'Type Area' for rare plants. 

The plant was about 3" tall and was mushroom-like with a stem and cap.  The cap, however, was not fungal and was deep, brilliant crimson red, plastic-like in appearance, with about 16 radial columns (<1" in length and 0.25” in width) with slightly rounded pyramidal terminations.  The stem was pink and appeared fibrous and was about 0.25” in diameter.  Two whitish-pink leaves about 12-14” long and 0.5" wide were growing from the base of the stem and lying along the ground.  The leaves appeared bleached with irregular coloring.  

I suspected the pyramids would soon open to expose spores or seeds, but that was merely speculation.

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Dr. Steven L. Stephenson
Research Professor
SCEN 626
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Telephone: (479) 575-2869
FAX: (479) 575-4010