This page will highlight the environmental and cultural resources of Kentucky State Parks. I travel
10/18/2021
Last week PMSRP Park Naturalist Keith Bowling found these ghost pipes, Monotropa uniflora, growing along the trails. More commonly known as Indian pipe since it is said to resemble a Native American peace pipe, it is also known as co**se plant, death plant, and ghost flower. This unique parasitic plant completely lacks chlorophyll and relies on its relationship with fungus and, indirectly, trees for all of its nutrients. This unusual looking plant is often mistaken as a fungus because it is mostly white and doesn’t have any chlorophyll… but it is really a flowering plant and is actually part of the same Family (Ericaceae) that includes blueberries, cranberries, azaleas, and Rhododendrons.
You’ll often find ghost pipes in dark and spooky environments. Since it doesn’t have any chlorophyll it doesn’t need light to photosynthesize its own food. Instead, the food source for this plant is a lot more sinister, for it is actually a parasite! Specifically, ghost pipes are parasitic on mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. Mycorrhizal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with trees (epiparasitism), meaning both the fungi and trees both benefit from each other. The tree gathers sunlight and use it to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugars and other carbohydrates. The fungi harvest minerals in the soil. The tree and fungi then exchange these resources in a process that resembles a harmonious story of cooperation and mutual benefit. It is then exploited by the ghost pipe.
They life cycle of this strange plant is unusual to say the least. After months, and sometimes years, of gathering its nutrients from the fungus into its root system, the ghost pipe, almost rather suddenly, develops above ground. White stalks and then flowers are produced, which are then pollinated by insects. Once pollinated the ghost pipe releases tens of thousands of extremely tiny seeds, which hardly have the food storage capacity to start a new plant. Those seeds are dispersed long distances by wind and settles to the ground. Once there, the seeds actually don’t start growing right away. In fact, the seeds chemically mimic a tree’s root systems and wait for certain types of mycorrhizal fungus to come along. The fungus then attaches to the seed as it would to a tree, but then is forced into providing nutrients the tiny seeds needs to grow! So essentially, from seedling to growth to pollination to seed dispersal, the ghost pipe does almost absolutely nothing itself!
Due to its fascinating nature, the ghost pipe has been immortalized by many poets and storytellers in their works, including Emily Dickinson, whose favorite flower was the Indian pipe. She drafted the poem “‘Tis whiter than an Indian Pipe-” in 1879:
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 –
On your next hike on our trails in the woods, look in dark, damp locations to spot this odd plant, but hurry, they are almost done for the season. Happy hiking!
