![Monotropa_uniflora_2024-07-18 SW Michigan USA Parasitic- gathering nutrition from a fungi gathering nutrition from a tree...<br />
<br />
From Wikipedia:<br />
"Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll.[9] Instead of generating food using the energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, and more specifically a mycoheterotroph. Its hosts are in the Russulaceae family.[9] Most fungi are mycorrhizal, meaning that they grow symbiotically in association with tree roots. Through the fungal web of mycorrhizae, the M. uniflora roots ultimately sap food from where the host fungi are connected to the photosynthetic trees. The clustered node roots of this plant are covered in hairs called cystidium. The cystidia found on these roots allow easy attachment to fungi hyphae, such as can be seen in ectomycorrhiza.[10] Since it is not dependent on sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments like in the understory of dense forests.[11] The complex relationship that allows this plant to grow makes propagation difficult. "<br />
<br />
A view down the gullet:<br />
<figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/162136/monotropa_uniflora2_2024-07-18_sw_michigan_usa.html" title="Monotropa_uniflora2_2024-07-18 SW Michigan USA"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/11710/162136_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=ooK9cdCoj1m9bC8bGKVwQSce0Jc%3D" width="200" height="196" alt="Monotropa_uniflora2_2024-07-18 SW Michigan USA Inside this flower:<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/162135/monotropa_uniflora_2024-07-18_sw_michigan_usa.html Geotagged,Monotropa uniflora,Monotropa_uniflora,Summer,United States" /></a></figure><br />
Geotagged,Ghost Pipe,Monotropa uniflora,Summer,United States](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/11710/162135_medium.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=kXl4fTv0gZJOvN0FXw%2BjljpWlfg%3D)
Monotropa_uniflora_2024-07-18 SW Michigan USA
Parasitic- gathering nutrition from a fungi gathering nutrition from a tree...
From Wikipedia:
"Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll.[9] Instead of generating food using the energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, and more specifically a mycoheterotroph. Its hosts are in the Russulaceae family.[9] Most fungi are mycorrhizal, meaning that they grow symbiotically in association with tree roots. Through the fungal web of mycorrhizae, the M. uniflora roots ultimately sap food from where the host fungi are connected to the photosynthetic trees. The clustered node roots of this plant are covered in hairs called cystidium. The cystidia found on these roots allow easy attachment to fungi hyphae, such as can be seen in ectomycorrhiza.[10] Since it is not dependent on sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments like in the understory of dense forests.[11] The complex relationship that allows this plant to grow makes propagation difficult. "
A view down the gullet:
"Monotropa uniflora", also known as ghost plant, ghost pipe, or Indian pipe, is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to temperate regions of Asia, North America, and northern South America, but with large gaps between areas.
