bird's-nest

noun

• 1a brownish or yellowish saprophytic flowering plant of the wintergreen family, with scale-like leaves.

  • Two species in the family Monotropaceae (or Pyrolaceae): the yellow bird’s-nest (Monotropa hypopitys) of north temperate regions, and the giant bird’s-nest (Pterospora andromeda) of North America

• 2 (also bird's-nest fungus) a Eurasian and North American fungus with a small bowl-shaped fruiting body that opens to reveal egg-shaped organs containing the spores.

  • Family Nidulariaceae, class Gasteromycetes, including the common bird’s-nest (Crucibulum laeve)