Arachnitis uniflora, the sole species in the genus Arachnitis, is a non-photosynthetic species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

. It is a myco-heterotroph which gets many of its nutrients from fungi of the genus Glomus

Glomus (fungus)

Glomus is a genus of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and all species form symbiotic relationships with plant roots. Glomus is the largest genus of AM fungi, with ca. 85 species described, but as currently defined is non-monophyletic.-Classification:Glomus is the only genus in the family...

which live in its roots.

It is found in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and is part of the Corsiaceae

Corsiaceae

Corsiaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The APG II system treats the family in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots...

 family.

Description

Although the fungi in question are in some ways the same kind of arbuscular mycorrhizae which are found in the roots of many plants, the details of their association with the plant roots differ in key ways (such as the absence of arbuscules).