Any guess?

[Michael Vincent]

Perhaps Balanophora?
M.A. Vincent

At 03:05 PM 2/12/2006, you wrote:
>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
>
>********************************************
>
>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.
>
>********************************************
>
>Dr. Steven L. Stephenson
>Research Professor
>SCEN 626
>University of Arkansas
>Fayetteville, AR 72701
>Telephone: (479) 575-2869
>FAX: (479) 575-4010

Dr. Michael A. Vincent, Curator
W.S. Turrell Herbarium (MU)
Department of Botany
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056 USA
TEL: 513-529-2755
FAX: 513-529-4243
Email: VincenMA at MUOhio.edu
My web page: http://www.cas.muohio.edu/botany/bot/mike.html
Herbarium web page: http://www.units.muohio.edu/herbarium/
Botany Department: http://www.cas.muohio.edu/botany/