Species Spotlight: Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)
The Indian pipe stands out amidst the flowers of the forest with its ghostly white appearance. Indian pipe, also known as ghost plant, has a bright white and sometimes pink appearance. Its white appearance is due to its inability to photosynthesize. How can a plant survive without photosynthesizing? It is parasitic and feasts on carbohydrates from the mycorrhizal fungi below. Its unique abilities enables this plant to grow in the dark understory of hardwood forests. The Indian pipe is found growing in dense forests with rich organic soil from decaying leaf litter. If you happen upon the Indian pipe, know you are amidst a healthy, well-functioning forest and a place to be admired.
The Indian pipe inspired one of America’s greatest poets. It was Emily Dickinson’s favorite flower. The covers of her three posthumously published books of poetry all had Indian pipes. She wrote many poems about the plant. I will let them speak for themselves.
“White as an Indian pipe
Red as a Cardinal Flower
Fabulous as a Moon at Noon
February Hour”
– Emily Dickinson 1873
“’Tis whiter than an Indian Pipe
‘Tis dimmer than a Lace
No stature has it, like a Fog
When you approach the place
Not any voice imply it here
Or intimate it there
A spirit – how doth it accost –
What function hath the Air?
This limitless Hyperbole
Each one of us shall be –
‘Tis Drama – if Hypothesis
It be not Tragedy”
– Emily Dickinson 1879
