New Species of Parasitic Plant That Lives Off Fungi Found in Japan

Most plants team up with fungi, forming a mycorrhiza, a symbiotic relationship in which roots provide sugars to the fungi, which in turn provide the plants with minerals and water. But a small number of plants cheat this system, taking minerals and sugars from mycorrhizal networks other than their own—and not giving anything back in return.
These parasites are little known and hard to spot, as they only make their way above ground when flowering. Japanese researcher Kenji Suetsugu, from Kobe University, fortuitously came across one of these plants on a field trip to Yakushima Island, in the far south of the country. The plant looked like nothing he had ever seen before, and he soon identified it as a new species. He and two=read more=http://europe.newsweek.com/parasitic-plant-fungi-japan-428378?rm=eu