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Indian Pipe

Monotropa uniflora

Photo by FlanaganLife
Published on Project Noah
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44.2201, -74.4394

Field Notes

Description:

"A true flowering plant with no green chlorophyll. Because it lives by taking nourishment from nearby tree roots it is considered a parasite much like a fungus. The flower lasts for only a few days befors the whole plant turns black." (From the sign near the plant)

Notes:

Adirondack Natural History Museum grounds

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
drP
I just posted some black Indian pipe: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17664218 I'll post pictures of splash cups in the not-too-distant future.
FlanaganLife
Yes, thanks drpalomella, for the info on both organisms. I would have never known that about the moss.
drP
If you look at the moss (Polytrichum sp.) behind the Indian pipe, you can just make out some splash cups, the reproductive organs of the moss.
drP
I love Indian pipe. The plant has now been identified a saprophyte rather than a parasite. That is, it lives off decaying material in the soil rather than on live plants. Because the plant turns black once the flower wilts, it is also sometimes called corpse flower.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Adirondack Wildlife
Photographed
PublishedFebruary 15, 2013

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