The woodland native Aplectrum hyemale takes an unusual approach to getting sunlight for photosynthesis. It produces a single leaf in autumn, and this leaf persists all winter while abundant sunlight reaches the forest floor (hyemale = of winter).

The leaf withers away in spring as the tree canopy closes in, and in June the plant can be found with a leafless flowering scape. Flowers and scapes are tan, brownish, and/or purplish, and there is a bright lemon yellow form (
f. pallidum) that is occasional in northern
Indiana, especially in
LaPorte County. In the photo above, it appears that some fungus took a lichen to the fallen tree limb.
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