BOO!
Did I scare you? If I didn’t, I bet these Ghost Pipes just might. Also known as Corpse Plant, Monotropa uniflora is always a treat to find. I usually spot a few when walking through Umstead State Park. But this year, large colonies of these fascinating flowers were growing under a maple tree in my garden. Yes, I said flowers! Most people think they’re a fungus, and they do look a little more fungus-like than flowery. They look like little alien shrimps emerging through the soil. I enjoyed watching them grow. Some that got a little more sunlight had a pink tinge. They were a welcome surprise!
Here’s some great info on these interesting flowers from the NC Museum of Natural Sciences blog:
“Ghost Pipes are white, not green, because they lack chlorophyll. Green plants need chlorophyll to produce glucose from water and carbon dioxide using the sun’s energy in photosynthesis. Ghost Pipes took a very different evolutionary path from their green relatives. They are parasitic on fungi that are in a mycorrhizal association with a tree. The fungus/tree relationship is mutually beneficial, while Ghost Pipes are strictly a third-wheel parasite on the fungus. Ghost Pipes receive food produced by the tree via the fungus on the tree roots.”
Read the entire piece here:
https://naturalsciences.org/calendar/news/nature-now-ghostly-discovery/
As they age, they begin to lift their little heads–blooms–upward toward the sky. Might we all be so wise. I’m sure there are other strange, otherworldly, or downright ghoulish plants out there, but I think Ghost Pipes might just be my favorite.
Happy Halloween! And a blessed Samhain! Stay safe. 🎃
Giving Voice to My Astonishment 
How interesting are they! Never heard of them, so even more interesting. Love how they turn pale pink and raise their heads. Nature always has surprises for us, doesn’t she? Thanks for sharing.
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How interesting and unusual. Love it. thanks for posting this
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Thanks, Arlene. I hope they come back next year.
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What a fascinating plant, you’re lucky to be able to see them in person!
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Indeed I am, Andrea. Hope you are doing well.
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Not bad thanks, we’re in lockdown at the moment but life isn’t too different to how it has been!
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Big changes on the horizon here, in many areas. I think we may be facing another lockdown soon, too. We have our words and our green spaces to help us through.
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How fascinating! Never seen anything like them. A very appropriate Halloween share, Cheryl :>)
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Thanks, Lynne! Hope you are doing well. x
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Very special to have in your yard! BUT they do look fungusey. I am off fungi currently, sporting a lung full of it. Someone suggested I take some sort of mushroom for my immune system. Gag.
I love your nature posts!
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Thanks, Luanne! I hope you’re feeling better. I had never heard of valley fever before you. It sounds so awful. Thank goodness ghost pipes are flowers! 😆
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Thank goodness!!! 😉
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Great pictures! These used to grow around the roots of our hemlock trees when I was a little girl. Back then we called them Indian pipes but I suppose that has changed with current cultural sensitivities. Ghost pipes describes them so much better. May your Samhain be safe and blessed!
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Thanks, Barbara! I still occasionally see them identified as Indian Pipes, but not as often. Under either name, they are certainly fascinating plants.
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Such strange creatures … err, plants!
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Haha! Yes indeed.
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Very apt
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Yes, and honestly, I didn’t plan that. I’ve been meaning to post about these flowers for weeks! Just lucky coincidence, until I realized it and thought yes—that works.
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I’m inclined to believe they grew just for you!
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Ha! If it were only so. I’d have them all year long:)
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Excellent post. I love the complicated interdependence on the fungi and the tree!
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Yes, it’s absolutely fascinating. Like all of nature. I’m always happy to find out more and to also realize I’ll never be able to learn it all.
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What a gift for your back yard. These are really interesting, more interesting than the family of mummies I saw tonight! Happy Halloween.
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Mummies? Now there’s a story!
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What an interesting plant. We have something here in Seattle that’s also referred to as a corpse plant or corpse flower. It blooms only rarely, and when it does, it smells like a rotting corpse. A single flower may be 8-12 feet tall. I like yours better.
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Yes, I’m familiar with that corpse flower, too! And it causes quite a stir when it blooms its stinky blooms! I’ve never seen one in person, although I do grow its cousins, other smaller Amorphophallus. They’re alien looking, too.
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They are very ghostly looking. Thank you for sharing!
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You are welcome:) They’re so fun!
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