Ghost Pipe

Tall, white plant with scale leaves and a single flower (per plant). Stem is pink to white and waxy. Yellow anthers are visible within the flowering parts.

Monotropa uniflora is a mycoheterotrophic, nonphotosynthetic plant. It is unable to produce its own energy via photosynthesis, so it turns to fungi (with a preference for Russula) which are mycorrhizal with trees. This might at first seem to give the plant a disadvantage, but as a result, M. uniflora is capable of growing in dense understories with lower light and higher mulch levels--habitats that are not suited for autotrophic plants.