''Pyrularia pubera'' is a shrub in the sandalwood family which grows through the eastern United States from New York to Alabama, being mostly found in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. It is commonly referred to as buffalo nut or oil nut. It grows up to 4m tall mostly in the shade of other trees. It is a

parasitic plant A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

, specifically a hemiparasite which while still photosynthetic, will also parasitize the roots of other plants around it. It can parasitize many hosts.

References

Santalaceae {{Santalales-stub