Now there's a name for ya. Here's a link to some pictures from USDA
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PTAN2
Here is some info about it in New Brunswick, where it is endangered.
http://www.gnb.ca/0078/fw/species/pdf/pinedrops.pdf
That plant actually lives off white pine and hemlock roots with the aid of a special fungus in the soil.
These are fairly common under conifers here in the Sierras. It has always been a puzzle to me what the relationship is between these plants and the trees/fungi. Apparently some of these plants contribute growth factors (hormones?) that help the trees. Interesting relationship.
Ray
We have something similiar to that down here called squawroot.
http://www.mwrop.org/W_Needham/Squawroot_040620.htm
It grows on oak roots. People see it and think their oak roots are rotting. The wetter the spring, the more you see in the woods. It's a favorite food of black bears here.
Was just reading down through that link Phorester and it's amazing when you think about it....the ability of a plant to find an alternative method to obtain nurishment and have it's offspring capable of doing the same. I know a lot of it is luck since their successful germination depends on outside factors like wind, available moister, and suitable host near by. But, then again a lot of this survival thing is based on luck whether your a carrot or a rabbit. :D
Here is another one that lacks chlorophyll. This one is saprophytic and lives off organic matter in the soil.
Snow Plant (http://www.life.umd.edu/emeritus/reveal/pbio/RevealSlides/ericsarsan.html)
Though everything you read about them state that they are uncommon, they seem to be very evident to anyone stoping and taking a walk in the Sierra during early summer just after the snow melts.
There are at least 3 different plant families (here in N. America, likely more elsewhere) that have members without chlorophyll. Pinedrops and Snowplant are either in the Ericaceae or in a closely related sub-family Monotropaceae. They and most all the Ericaceae have an obligate mycorrhiza (fungus-root) relationship with soil fungi. This is also true of most of the Orchids, of which there are a number of non-chlorophyll examples (the Ghost Orchid is a local species here in the Sierras)
In contrast, members of the Orobanchaceae, like the species Phorester mentioned, seem to be direct root parasites.
All of them are interesting, at least partially because they only appear for a short time above ground, when they flower. What are they doing the rest of the year? A great example of what we humans don't yet understand about the natural world.
Ray
A common one around here is ghostly white Indian pipe (http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/herbs/monotropa.html)
Yeah, we have indian pipe in VA too. Not all that plentiful, but I've seen a few over the years.