Have you ever seen these? This was a first for me. I ran across them while camping in northern Minnesota. I assumed this was a type of fungus, but a Google search revealed that it’s called “ghost plant” (Monotropa uniflora). Apparently this unusual woodland wildflower isn’t super common in most areas so it was cool seeing some in person. They have no chlorophyll so they never turn green. Since they don’t have chlorophyll they can’t produce their own food. Instead, they rely on the nutrients produced by specific species of mushrooms that grow under specific species of trees. If the right mushrooms don’t grow, these plants don’t grow either. This dependence on their host mushrooms makes ghost plants a parasite species. They are also called “Indian pipe” because of their shape. If you pick them the stalks turn black almost immediately which earned them another of their names; the “corpse plant”. They bloom with a single flower on the end of each stalk and bees will pollinate them but they don’t have a fragrance that humans can detect. Purportedly they have a variety of medicinal applications that range from stopping epileptic seizures to fighting gonorrhea and toothaches. These were an interesting discovery, at least for a nature geek like me. #GhostPlant #IndianPipePlant #CorpsePlant #MonotropaUniflora #NorthAmericanWildflower #WildFlowers #RareFlowers https://www.instagram.com/p/CEltafDAsXJ/?igshid=1853n2j1037q2
