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Bear Corn is a perennial, parasitic, flowering plant that grows from Maine to Michigan and south to Tennessee and Florida. The genus name, Conopholis, meaning “cone-scale,” is derived from Greek: “conos” for cone, and “pholos” for scale. It blooms from May into June. Being parasitic, it obtains all of its nutrition from other plants, and lacks the chlorophyll that gives nonparasitic plants their green color and their ability to synthesize their own food from inorganic substances.

The stem of Bear Corn is thick and brown, 4 to 6 inches tall. It is covered with brown scales that are not true leaves. More than half the height of the plant consists of the dense inflorescence, which is sometimes compared to a pine cone in overall appearance (Voss and Reznicek, 2012). The stem arises from a thick underground tubercle which forms short roots with haustoria that invade the roots of host tissue. A large woody gall forms where the parasite’s root attaches to the oak root. The flowers, which are located on the thick stem, are pale yellow and less than a half-inch long.

Bear Corn’s habitat is rich woodlands having oaks and beeches.

Bear Corn is most commonly parasitic on the roots of oak species, and to a lesser extent on beech roots. The flowers may be pollinated by bee and fly species, but some flowers may be self-pollinated. When in fruit, the plant, with its many capsules, resembles an ear of corn. Each capsule contains many small seeds. The capsules, which mature while still sticky, attract animals such as Black Bears (when they are coming out of hibernation in spring), and White-tailed Deer, which eat and disperse the fruits and seeds (Illinois Wildflowers, Lobstein, 2020).