Monday, August 29, 2005

Indian Pipe

Although it looks like a fungus of some sort, The Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is actually a native wildflower. It doesn’t use chlorophyll to make its food from sunlight, so there is no trace of green. Instead, it is known as an epiparasite because it obtains its nutrients through its roots from a fungus in the soil that parasitizes green plants.

Indian Pipe

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