Wikimedia Commons
Ericaceae
Ghost Pipe
Monotropa uniflora
Mystery and the unseen world.
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Genus
- Monotropa
- Native to
- North America, Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer, Early Fall
- Type
- Perennial (mycoheterotroph)
- Height
- 10-30 cm
- Sunlight
- Deep shade
- Soil
- Rich forest humus
- Water
- Moist
- Hardiness
- 4-9
- Lifespan
- Perennial
Did you know
- Ghost pipe has no chlorophyll and does not photosynthesize; it gets all nutrients from fungi connected to tree roots.
- The entire plant is stark white or translucent, looking like something from another world on the forest floor.
- It turns black when picked or dried, making it impossible to preserve as a pressed flower specimen.
- Each stem produces a single downward-facing flower that turns upward as the seed pod matures.
- It parasitizes mycorrhizal fungi that are connected to tree roots, making it an indirect parasite of trees.
Color meanings
0
Hidden connections
1
Ghostly beauty
2
Symbiosis