Mycoheterotrophic Plants

[edith1111]

I was delighted to see some Spotted Coralroot plants on the mountain last week and it brought up a couple of questions.

1. How do plants that fully depend on fungal hosts reproduce? I understand they are flowering plants and require pollinators but after fruiting, how does the new plant find a host and get itself established?

2. Do they get all of their other nutrients from their host fungi or can they absorb them via their roots?

3. This hurts my brain a little to think about, but do mycoheterotrophic plants have separate mycorrhizal relationships too?

[Italopithecus]

@edith1111

I understand they are flowering plants and require pollinators but after fruiting, how does the new plant find a host and get itself established

Consider that many (if not all) orchids, either mycoheterotrophic or not, need a helper fungus to make their embryos grow. They are almost totally lacking of seed reserves to feed the embryo.

[edith1111]

How do they acquire that fungus?