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Ghost Plant

Monotropa uniflora

Photo by Machi
Published on Project Noah
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43.6026, -70.2258

Field Notes

Description:

One of my favorite plants! Ghost plants are parasitic plants that take nutrients from certain fungi that take their nutrients from trees. While the fungi and the tree have a mutalistic relationship, ghost plants don't give anything back to the fungi, which is why it is a parasite. They do not get their energy from sunlight, which is why they can grow in dark places such as under a log as shown here.

Habitat:

Under a pine log in a moist forest with pine, oak, birch, and maple

Reference Links:

Monotropa uniflora, Monotropa uniflora

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)
HayleyBoBailey
Awesome! I've never seen one growing directly under a log like that (although it makes sense, huh?) Thanks for sharing, I love this plant too :)

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Flowers of North America
Mission
Wildlife of Northeastern USA
Mission
BioBlitz, Maine
Photographed
PublishedNovember 1, 2015

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