Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora), quite the surprise to find. What in the world?It’s an herbaceous perennial plant which is found in much of the United States, with the exception of the Southwest, intermountain west and the central Rocky mountains. It’s also found in Canada, and in parts of northern South America.

Ghost Pipe is a small plant, growing to between 4 and 8 inches tall. It’s color varies a bit, from snow white to pale pink.

It also varies to that same snow white with added specks of black or pink. These black specked white pipes make me think of black and white Holsteins roaming a hillside in Vermont, particularly that one flower that is looking straight at us on the right side of the image above. Do you see it Gary? These flowers sometimes are a rich bright pink too, though I’ve never seen them in that color. I’ll keep looking. Surely I’ll find some in that color way.

The Ghost Pipe starts out its week long life with its flower nodding down much like a full bent tobacco pipe. As the pipe ages, it ends up with its flower looking straight up.

And then those fascinating flowers become seed pods.

So these flowers are white. No green. That means they don’t perform photosynthesis. They are part of a group of flowers which are called mycotrophic. Rather than being like green plants using photosynthesis, these mycotrophic plants get their energy from other organisms. From fungi.

The Ghost Pipe gets its nutrients and carbohydrates through tree roots depending upon a “middle man” or that fungi.

The woods around me are filled with many enchanting plants and animals. This certainly is one of them.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!