2012 is a good year for the Dutchman's Pipe (Monotropa hypopitys). This smal ivory-coloured plant is not common at all in Perigord, but this summer it can be found in relative abundance. Maybe it enjoys the rains of this year after a very dry 2011.
The Dutchman's Pipe is a parasite on Pine trees. It has no chlorophyll but instead uses the tree to provide it with nutrients. In a pine wood, often only one or two trees are infested by Dutchman's Pipe, and as often as not those do not appear to suffer from their parasites. Maybe there is some reciprocity and the parasites do have also small favours on offer.