Indian Pipe
An Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), often mistaken for fungi, is actually a flowering plant in the family Monotropaceae, closely related to the heaths (Ericaceae). Its lack of pigmentation indicates that they do not create their own food using sunlight and carbon dioxide like most plants. Instead, it uses symbiotic soil fungi to indirectly get its nutrition from decaying organic material. Leaves, which are essentially photosynthetic organs, are superfluous to this process, and are reduced to scales in an Indian pipe. When the flower isblooming in early summer, as in the picture, it is nodding, giving the plant the shape of a tobacco pipe. As the plant sets fruit, the stem straightens out.
An Indian pipe is relatively common in Pennsylvania. One place it can be seen is at WPC’s Sandy Creek property.
Today's
photo was taken by WPC President Larry Schweiger.
E-mail Today's WPC Daily to a Friend!
Rediscover western Pennsylvania every morning with WPC Daily.
Become a Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Member
View the winning WPC Daily for June
Review and vote for the best of July