Have you ever seen one of these? No! What is it? A fungi?
When I first spotted the pale, thin sprigs poking up from the leaf litter along my walking path, I thought I’d discovered something unusual. Some grew in single stems, others in clumps, they were surely uncommon, if not rare.
And then, at other spots along the path, and in the woods, there they were again…and others were posting their photos and comments on social media. Suddenly they were everywhere, or so it seemed, at least to anyone walking through the woods with attentive eyes.
Have you ever seen one of these? Yes! They’re Ghost Pipes!
The scientific name is Monotropa Uniflora, meaning “one turn, one flower” and yes, it is a wildflower. Ghostly white because it lacks chlorophyll, it can’t make food from the sun, so it relies on its host mushroom for nourishment. A thief on the edge of the mycorrhizal network, part of the wondrous underground web of the woods.
Wikipedia says, “It is of ephemeral occurrence, depending on the right conditions (moisture after a dry period) to appear full grown within a couple of days.”
That certainly fit with my own observations, the path underfoot crunched through early summer, and then squished under our rubber boots in late July. Many of the ghost plants I spotted came and went quickly, except for one clump in a patch of deep green moss at the edge of my walking path. I was able to capture its life cycle from emergence to decay, my photos are featured in the short, poetic video at the end of this post.
Of course, once you become curious about something new, there’s an abundance of information at your fingertips.
I learned that the flower was a favorite of Emily Dickinson, an illustration of them graced the cover of a book of her poetry. I learned that by Cherokee legend, (where the alternate name “Indian Pipe” comes from), the plant is said to grow wherever friends have quarreled. These are but two of the stories about this fascinating plant worth exploring if you have the time or inclination, there’s more if you want to dig deeper (Don’t dig them up, though! They are medicinal but a trip to your local pharmacy is a better option to treat your headache.)
I hope you enjoy the video. I’m not sure I’d want to see a repeat of our summer of wildfires and drenching rains, but I’d love to see the Ghost Pipes again someday.