Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Ghost Pipe is a mycoheterotrophic plant with no chlorophyll, giving it a waxy, translucent white appearance that turns black when damaged. Instead of photosynthesizing, it steals nutrients from underground fungi, letting it thrive in the deepest forest shade where almost nothing else can grow.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Monotropa
Species: Monotropa uniflora