Some Kind of Seeds? But Where are the Leaves?

[sherwood]

I found some of these in the woods last year while looking for mushrooms about this time of the year or maybe a few weeks earlier here in central WI. Then again I found these in northern WI this summer.
They were growing up out of the ground as you see them.

I'm not sure what they are. Any help would be greatly appreciated in identifying them.

[SwampDonkey]

Could be what they call pine drops that feed off tree roots. Haven't time right now to look it up, but a possibility. They are rare here.

[WDH]

I suspect that they are fungal fruiting bodies.

[sherwood]

SwampDonkey & WDH: Yes, I did a little research online and I believe you are right (pine drops).  Thanks for your help.  It's amazing what you can learn on the Forestry Forum with the knowledgeable people out there like you guys!  Many many thanks for your help.  We were looking for mushrooms when we discovered these.

[SwampDonkey]

Pinesap is also related, only a lot shorter. There is one variety in the southern mountains and in the Piedmont which flowers twice. In late winter from Feb-April and then in the early fall Sept-Oct. The spring flower is fragrant, the fall flower is odorless. I got that info from Audubon. I've not seen it here. But, I did see Indian Pipe today. It is related. It had  ripened fruit, which is a capsule, and it lost it's ghostly white. It turns up when ripe. It was in spruce-fir woods. Another flower I saw today was turtlehead (a white orchid).

[The Herbman]

Looks like a parasite we call cancer root here in Carolina.  Found around oak trees.

[SwampDonkey]

They feed with the aid of mycorrhiza fungus, a fungus known to be beneficial to tree roots aiding in nutrient update. So what if a little saprophyte gets a little bite to. ;D  ;)