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The vast majority of plants on earth are autotrophic, using chlorophyll to convert solar energy into metabolites for growth and reproduction. However, approximately 400 plant species in 87 genera and 10 families (Furman and Trappe 1971; Leake 1994, 2004) have lost functioning chlorophyll. As a consequence, they have evolved different strategies to obtain the energy they need without photosynthesis. Species that receive all their carbon from autotrophic plants via fungal connections are referred to as mycoheterotrophs (Leake 1994). Achlorophyllous plants, due to their unusual and often ghostly appearance, fascinate people. How these plants thrive, let alone survive, while exhibiting this apparent “carbon budget deficit” is a multifaceted topic that leads to many questions. A mycoheterotrophic plant receives all of its carbon via the fungus that serves as an intermediary between it and one or more associated …