Indian Pipe

Description:

The entire plant is translucent white, sometimes with a pale pink hue, and it often has black flecks. Indian Pipe has bract-like scales instead of leaves, with a single flower at the end of the stem. Upon emerging from the ground, the flower is pendant. As it matures, the flower becomes erect and in line with the stem.

Habitat:

Growing on the ground and in moss in a deciduous forest.

Notes:

While Indian Pipe is a flowering plant, it is unusual because it isn't green. Unlike most plants, Indian Pipe is white and doesn't contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating energy from sunlight, it is parasitic - more specifically it's a myco-heterotroph. Myco-heterotrophs get their food by parasitizing fungi. They do this by linking their roots with the mycelia of a fungus from which the plant will then get its nutrients.