a wiry North American plant (Epifagus virginiana) of the broomrape family with brown stems and small purplish flowers, parasitic on beech roots
See beechdrops in American Heritage Dictionary 4
or beech-drops
plural noun(used with a sing. or pl. verb)
A brownish eastern North American annual plant (Epifagus virginiana) having scalelike leaves and whitish tubular flowers with brown-purple stripes. It is parasitic on the roots of the beech tree.