2022 Photograph, Indian Pipes, Indian Ghost Pipes, Corpse Plant, or One-flower Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora, Heath Family or Heather Family, Ericaceae), Fairfax Villa Park, Fairfax, Virginia, © 2023.
In this photograph, the "Pipes" are at various stages of emergence from the forest floor and the one to the rear has a lot of black mottling.
As you can see, this flowering plant has no chlorophyll. The only time you can see anything of this species is when it flowers. Most of the plant is underground where it is parasitic on tree roots via a fungus that actually transfers the nutrients from the tree roots. So, you might say this plant is a parasite of a parasite. As the stalks and flowers age, they begin to develop black blotches and eventually the flowers will point straight up instead of nodding and the whole above-ground plant will be black and dead. |
