Yellow Paintbrush

Description:

They are parasites of other plants and use their roots to take nutrients from neighboring plant roots. However, they can photosynthesize, so they are actually hemiparasites and can technically survive without a host. The yellow things that look like petals are actually not, but rather specialized leaves similar to the colorful leaves of poinsettias. You can see the flowers up close in photos 2 and 3.

Habitat:

Densely vegetated cape with lots of wildflowers.