The fungus, a species of the Rhizoctonia family, penetrates the seed and provides it with nutrients from the soil until it has grown leaves that can produce their own food through photosynthesis. As the orchid develops, the fungus takes nourishment from the orchid's roots. The two plants live side by side, in what at first appears to be a mutually beneficial relationship.
But as the orchid takes the nutrients it needs, it actually eats away at the fungus. Eventually, when the orchid can depend on its leaves to provide enough food, it devours its life-giving partner completely.

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