Strange Plant Thought Extinct Rediscovered and It Eats Mushrooms Instead of Using Photosynthesis

Delicate, translucent flowers sprout from the forest floor like ghostly lanterns from the enigmatic Thismia, a strange and wondrous plant that devours mushrooms instead of turning sunlight into nutrients like nearly all of the other plants we know on earth. A species of these aptly nicknamed ‘fairy lanterns’ that was thought extinct has recently been rediscovered in the Kobe region of Japan.
Little is known about these elusive plants and many are believed lost due to the degradation of the tropical rainforests which are their preferred habitat. The fairy lanterns are highly dependent on both the trees and the fungal networks to be able to sustain themselves which requires a delicate balance difficult to sustain without better ecological protections.
Strange Plant Thought Extinct Rediscovered and It Eats Mushrooms Instead of Using Photosynthesis