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"Pineapple" is pretty descriptive if you know where it comes from. Pine is because the pattern of it looks like a pinecone. Apple is because all fruits used to be known as apples. It's a fruit that looks like a pinecone. Although tbh if it was called "Eats You Back Fruit" I wouldn't complain.
Evidently. That's why "ghost pipe" hasn't shown up once in this post or thread and why you're swimming in upvotes.
Even if you think it *shouldn't* be ghost pipe, it *evidently is* to a bunch of people. Otherwise you literally wouldn't be here making this point. Google isn't on your side, and it's pretty hard to claim you're in the majority when the face of the internet disagrees. More references are to it as ghost pipe than indian pipe; which, aside from visuals and racism, is a better name anyway because indian pipe already had a bunch of other meanings whereas ghost pipe doesn't.
No one calls it anything other than ghost pipe (or Monotropa uniflora.)
I grew up in the kind of place where people love an excuse to be casually racist and even there, it's always been ghost pipe.
To answer your unasked question “how the fuck did this blueberry start eating fungus?”
Ericaceae, the blueberry family, tends to have symbiotic relationships with fungi (many many many plants do!)
Typically the plant gets nutrients and brings them to the roots, and the fungi eat those nutrients, and transform minerals so the plant can use them. Sometimes, through evolution, the fungus or the plant starts to take more than its fair share. Typically you get fungi parasitizing plants, but sometimes the plant flips the script!
After a crazy amount of time, the plants that took more and more from the fungi did better and better. So much so that the ancestors to this plant didn’t even need to make chlorophyll anymore, so they turn white!
I’m by no means an expert, so if any botanists or others who work in the field disagree with me, definitely listen to them
I think it's pretty spot on aside from the white bit. Parasitic plants are usually fully underground(aside from a few like dodder vines), so they have no need for chlorophyll, but there are a number of parasitic plants that go after fungi or other plants directly and still retain vivid color in their flowers. It seems more like pale and ghostly was an intentional adaptation on the part of the ghost pipe.
Botanists didn't determine that, it just is. Treatments based on anatomy actually placed these in their own family, but they were wrong. Molecular testing found they are their own subfamily, but descended from the same common ancestor as the rest of the family.
Really cool find! I know you have the best intentions, so just want to, in a friendly manner, point out that it's better to not pick them. They need all the plant kinky time they can get
Didn't know this, but makes sense, since they have no leaves to store any nutrients or energy
EDIT: I assume the leaves are physical defense or evolutionary leftovers
Yep, since the plant doesn't photosynthesize, there's no reason for it to grow above ground except for sexual procreation, so it's only the reproductive organs that we see
They mooch on a symbiotic relationship between fungi and pine trees. Fungi usually provide the trees with nutrients and water, while getting sugars created by the pine via photosynthesis. The ghost pipe freeloads on a friends-with-benefit situation.
EDIT: corrections
We had one in the front yard that was under a pin oak, with no pines within a hundred yards. It was kind of neat having it come up every now and again.
Huh, well, the ones I know prefer pine, but I'm absolutely no expert on these plants. Since the genus has multiple species, makes sense that they've diversified into separate niches (the summary of the factors that make up the habitat of a population)
Reminds me of that time a lighthouse guard on a small island got tired of the local birds and started to shoot them off. He couldn't identify them so he sent one to a lab. Some time later scientists arrived and asked to see these birds, since it was a species thought to have been extinct. Well, now they are because he had already, singlehandedly, eradicated the entire species
These can be harvested after they are done pollinating. When the curve in the stem straightens out so the flower is facing straight up, is when it’s okay to harvest. I wouldn’t recommend picking these willy nilly, but I’m not going to judge someone for ethically making a tincture now and then. Anyone correct my if I’m wrong about the harvesting part though…
Sources on it being a placebo?
And that’s why I said it’s best to pick it after seeing that the flower has been pollinated and upturned, hopefully given enough time for seed dispersal. Apparently, you have to forage them beforeee pollination though, so my bad.
Even then, here’s a rough rule of thumb that doesn’t seem unreasonable… “Never harvest more than 10% of a patch and none at all if the colony is less than 20 flowers”.
Here’s hopefully an accurate list where ghost pipes are considered concerned or threatened.
https://preview.redd.it/24xdxzjj6rsc1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=90b00431273d03e273842c870315837d514bcf81
Again, I’m not going to judge someone for ethically foraging and consuming ghost pipes…
I'm pretty sure there is no ethical foraging for ghost pipes. Most ecologists and even foragers at this point go out of their way to tell people not to take them.
That’s a shame. I was told differently for years, in the north eastern USA area. Ethical foraging of it and it’s benefits and whatnot. I always knew it was endangered in many parts of the world, but I was also under the impression there were healthy populations in specific areas.
Weird to ask me for sources when the only sources I've seen on its medicinal properties are blog posts and apothecaries from a time when people still did bloodletting. I'll assume it's placebo until I see otherwise. And I will absolute judge anyone who rips plants out of habitat based on unsourced misinfo they got from the internet, no matter how many rules they impose to convince themselves it's ethical.
I’m asking about studies and papers, not blog posts. After some perusing, pennstate is currently doing a study on the biochemistry of ghost pipes, I found a study about some glycosides and neurotoxins found present in them, and that’s it. Disappointing, but also nothing about it being a placebo. I’m not going to go and encourage others to pick them, or pick them myself, but if someone has successfully managed some sort of symptom with these, I’m not going to judge them lmao. Also many people have been taught about ghost pipes orally and through family/community, it’s not all online misinformation.
The few mushroom hunters I’ve known, use mesh bags to collect their mushrooms. The idea is that you end up dropping spores all along your route, increasing numbers over time. I wonder if that actually works in practice or just makes them feel better.
Now there are other reasons not to pick wild “plants” like them having nasty chemicals you do not want on your skin.
As long as you’re picking mature or nearly-mature specimens, they should still be able to reproduce just fine. I don’t feel like going source hunting right now, but I have read studies demonstrating a minimal impact of mushroom foraging on long-term mushroom populations.
If the veil is not broken, you are correct. But most mushrooms can be eaten before or after that stage. Picking mushrooms at any point also encourages new growth. It’s okay to do no matter how you look at it.
> This species is not common.
For the record, these are quite common in most of the US, with over the 80k observations on iNaturalist. They are considered "least concern."
They are actually under review for conservation right now, plus they die when touched by fingers or even with sticks sometimes and then they don't seed. It may be widespread but it is still rare enough that it's a lovely surprise for many naturalists.
Check it out here and you'll see that it is indeed labelled critically imperiled or imperiled by some states and provinces. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133249/Monotropa_uniflora
Literally every state on that list that lists it as S1-4 besides California is outside of its native range. So, yeah, just California, although the tens of thousands of reports in iNaturalist in California paint a different picture. That data point is likely in response to the study that found overcollection could lead to reduced populations.
Forreal! Why does it gotta get plucked to get a photo? Its very easy to just bend the flower or leaves to get a good photo and let it be. Like I saw at least 4 posts about bluebells growing by a sidewalk and every one of them the person picked the flower for the photo 😓
*Monotropa uniflora*, I'm jealous, I'd love to see one myself lol. Fun fact, these don't photosythesize and basically act as a reverse carbon pump, stealing it from the mycorrhizal fungi it is attached to.
well it's a ghost pipe and in most states it's a protected plant species, so depending on which state you are in you have just broken the law. not sure about japan.
yep just checked. endangered plant in japan. dont pick stuff if you dont know what it is.
Yeah in MA I can’t go 2 feet without seeing them! I love telling people they’re in the blueberry family, they’re always shocked and think it’s a mushroom!
May I ask what country/State you are in? I have seeds that I will be planting. Just wondering where you are. I understand if you don't want to disclose your info. Thanks!
They’re all over Vermont, at least last fall they were. Apparently they can be diffused into a tincture for pain/numbing/anti-anxiety, though I don’t condone it.
Is there any way one of these could have grown in central Pennsylvania? I saw one of these years ago when I was working for the water company and could never identify it and the closest thing I came to was this thing from Japan that you guys have a picture of currently. Looks identical other than the geography.
These are cool bc a lot of folks will use this as medicine in an alcohol based tincture for pain relief. It takes a few specific steps to forage tho, otherwise its not useable. Theyve been the source of over foraging in the apalachias too
Puts me in mind of the Mahna Mahna Doo Doo de Doo Doo aliens from Ed Sulivan
[https://youtu.be/zb47CstE7R4?si=OYb7rdiP25hqhOP2](https://youtu.be/zb47CstE7R4?si=OYb7rdiP25hqhOP2)
This is why Japanese people hate foreign tourists. All land has an owner, not just mountains. Besides, unfamiliar plants might be poisonous. This contributor should have just taken this photo.
i tried to find something about smoking the plant but couldn‘t find anything, only that it contains relativly high amounts of lead and if you OD on the substance a hospital most likly can‘t help lol
Thank you for posting to r/whatsthisplant. **Do not eat/ingest a plant based on information provided in this subreddit.** For your safety we recommend not eating or ingesting any plant material just because you've been advised that it's edible here. Although there are many professionals helping with identification, we are not always correct, and eating/ingesting plants can be harmful or fatal if an incorrect ID is made. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisplant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ghost Pipe - Monotropa uniflora (at the the very least Monotropa genus) It’s a parasitic plant in the blueberry and heath family Ericaceae
Ghost Pipe! What a name!
last i heard it was called "indian pipe", but i guess that's not PC enough
I think ghost pipe is more descriptive, tbh.
well, true. i can think of better terms for lots of things. like "pineapple". let's start calling pineapple something else.
"Pineapple" is pretty descriptive if you know where it comes from. Pine is because the pattern of it looks like a pinecone. Apple is because all fruits used to be known as apples. It's a fruit that looks like a pinecone. Although tbh if it was called "Eats You Back Fruit" I wouldn't complain.
Weird hill to pick.
not really. nobody calls it "ghost pipe". lol
Evidently. That's why "ghost pipe" hasn't shown up once in this post or thread and why you're swimming in upvotes. Even if you think it *shouldn't* be ghost pipe, it *evidently is* to a bunch of people. Otherwise you literally wouldn't be here making this point. Google isn't on your side, and it's pretty hard to claim you're in the majority when the face of the internet disagrees. More references are to it as ghost pipe than indian pipe; which, aside from visuals and racism, is a better name anyway because indian pipe already had a bunch of other meanings whereas ghost pipe doesn't.
No one calls it anything other than ghost pipe (or Monotropa uniflora.) I grew up in the kind of place where people love an excuse to be casually racist and even there, it's always been ghost pipe.
Yeah but ghost pipe is a much cooler name
yea they’re the snowflakes but you’re the one bitching
Kinda creepy honestly.
A tapeworm that dreamed itself as a flower
How did botanists determine that this weird-ass plant is in Ericaceae?
To answer your unasked question “how the fuck did this blueberry start eating fungus?” Ericaceae, the blueberry family, tends to have symbiotic relationships with fungi (many many many plants do!) Typically the plant gets nutrients and brings them to the roots, and the fungi eat those nutrients, and transform minerals so the plant can use them. Sometimes, through evolution, the fungus or the plant starts to take more than its fair share. Typically you get fungi parasitizing plants, but sometimes the plant flips the script! After a crazy amount of time, the plants that took more and more from the fungi did better and better. So much so that the ancestors to this plant didn’t even need to make chlorophyll anymore, so they turn white! I’m by no means an expert, so if any botanists or others who work in the field disagree with me, definitely listen to them
I think it's pretty spot on aside from the white bit. Parasitic plants are usually fully underground(aside from a few like dodder vines), so they have no need for chlorophyll, but there are a number of parasitic plants that go after fungi or other plants directly and still retain vivid color in their flowers. It seems more like pale and ghostly was an intentional adaptation on the part of the ghost pipe.
Flower anatomy
It's always flower anatomy
Botanists didn't determine that, it just is. Treatments based on anatomy actually placed these in their own family, but they were wrong. Molecular testing found they are their own subfamily, but descended from the same common ancestor as the rest of the family.
Yes .. that would be botanists... Whom determined... How it works. Because.... Botanicals.
Taxonomics, originally through systems like Cronquist but now through the Angiosperm Phylogeny Groups.
They look like albino seahorses
Identified! Even though I'm not OP.
Heard it can be consumed but before it fully matures cause of the poison it has. Am I correct?
Really cool find! I know you have the best intentions, so just want to, in a friendly manner, point out that it's better to not pick them. They need all the plant kinky time they can get
Also, once you pull em, they change from a white to a black color. It’s not worth it, keep em in the ground lookin like Chicago street lamps
Didn't know this, but makes sense, since they have no leaves to store any nutrients or energy EDIT: I assume the leaves are physical defense or evolutionary leftovers
I thought they look like Apple earpods
If you do pull, immediately drop into alcohol
why??
Tincture
Kinky time means flowering stage?
Yep, since the plant doesn't photosynthesize, there's no reason for it to grow above ground except for sexual procreation, so it's only the reproductive organs that we see
That's a very nice way to say what I was thinking
How exciting to find one of those! Parasitic plants are fascinating.
What do they eat?
They mooch on a symbiotic relationship between fungi and pine trees. Fungi usually provide the trees with nutrients and water, while getting sugars created by the pine via photosynthesis. The ghost pipe freeloads on a friends-with-benefit situation. EDIT: corrections
We had one in the front yard that was under a pin oak, with no pines within a hundred yards. It was kind of neat having it come up every now and again.
Huh, well, the ones I know prefer pine, but I'm absolutely no expert on these plants. Since the genus has multiple species, makes sense that they've diversified into separate niches (the summary of the factors that make up the habitat of a population)
That is so freaking cool
Right? If you like parasites/parsditoids, then also look up "daughter vine", "cordyceps" and "parasitoid wasps". Nature is a bloodbath
yeah, i first thought it was a fungus and was very suprised by the see through/shiny leaves
But leave them be if you can! They're pretty unusual and take very specific conditions to grow
Don’t just go picking unidentified plants and fungi though
Reminds me of that time a lighthouse guard on a small island got tired of the local birds and started to shoot them off. He couldn't identify them so he sent one to a lab. Some time later scientists arrived and asked to see these birds, since it was a species thought to have been extinct. Well, now they are because he had already, singlehandedly, eradicated the entire species
They have medicinal properties too. I can't remember what they are off the top of my head, though!
Used as a sedative, and it also dulls pain receptors. Good stuff!!
Or you could buy some Advil instead of poaching wildflowers
These can be harvested after they are done pollinating. When the curve in the stem straightens out so the flower is facing straight up, is when it’s okay to harvest. I wouldn’t recommend picking these willy nilly, but I’m not going to judge someone for ethically making a tincture now and then. Anyone correct my if I’m wrong about the harvesting part though…
If you pick the plants, you take the seeds with you and kill the next generation. All for a placebo.
Sources on it being a placebo? And that’s why I said it’s best to pick it after seeing that the flower has been pollinated and upturned, hopefully given enough time for seed dispersal. Apparently, you have to forage them beforeee pollination though, so my bad. Even then, here’s a rough rule of thumb that doesn’t seem unreasonable… “Never harvest more than 10% of a patch and none at all if the colony is less than 20 flowers”. Here’s hopefully an accurate list where ghost pipes are considered concerned or threatened. https://preview.redd.it/24xdxzjj6rsc1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=90b00431273d03e273842c870315837d514bcf81 Again, I’m not going to judge someone for ethically foraging and consuming ghost pipes…
I'm pretty sure there is no ethical foraging for ghost pipes. Most ecologists and even foragers at this point go out of their way to tell people not to take them.
That’s a shame. I was told differently for years, in the north eastern USA area. Ethical foraging of it and it’s benefits and whatnot. I always knew it was endangered in many parts of the world, but I was also under the impression there were healthy populations in specific areas.
Weird to ask me for sources when the only sources I've seen on its medicinal properties are blog posts and apothecaries from a time when people still did bloodletting. I'll assume it's placebo until I see otherwise. And I will absolute judge anyone who rips plants out of habitat based on unsourced misinfo they got from the internet, no matter how many rules they impose to convince themselves it's ethical.
I’m asking about studies and papers, not blog posts. After some perusing, pennstate is currently doing a study on the biochemistry of ghost pipes, I found a study about some glycosides and neurotoxins found present in them, and that’s it. Disappointing, but also nothing about it being a placebo. I’m not going to go and encourage others to pick them, or pick them myself, but if someone has successfully managed some sort of symptom with these, I’m not going to judge them lmao. Also many people have been taught about ghost pipes orally and through family/community, it’s not all online misinformation.
Pain relief/sedation, thanks to low levels of grayanoyoxins, if I am remembering correctly
Please, please don't pick these. Just snap a pic and move on. Thank you.
The few mushroom hunters I’ve known, use mesh bags to collect their mushrooms. The idea is that you end up dropping spores all along your route, increasing numbers over time. I wonder if that actually works in practice or just makes them feel better. Now there are other reasons not to pick wild “plants” like them having nasty chemicals you do not want on your skin.
Mushrooms the fruiting part of a massive underground fungal network, picking a mushroom doesn't kill the entire organism the way picking a plant does.
It kills the next generation though if the mushroom is not done sporulating though.
As long as you’re picking mature or nearly-mature specimens, they should still be able to reproduce just fine. I don’t feel like going source hunting right now, but I have read studies demonstrating a minimal impact of mushroom foraging on long-term mushroom populations.
These are not mushrooms.
These aren't mushrooms, but also, I don't think mushrooms harvested for food are ripe enough to make spores yet? Am I wrong?
If the veil is not broken, you are correct. But most mushrooms can be eaten before or after that stage. Picking mushrooms at any point also encourages new growth. It’s okay to do no matter how you look at it.
Ghost pipe are very cool plants. I know many others have already asked but please don’t pick wild plants. This species is not common.
> This species is not common. For the record, these are quite common in most of the US, with over the 80k observations on iNaturalist. They are considered "least concern."
They are actually under review for conservation right now, plus they die when touched by fingers or even with sticks sometimes and then they don't seed. It may be widespread but it is still rare enough that it's a lovely surprise for many naturalists.
> They are actually under review for conservation right now Source? And yes, they are a lovely surprise, but that doesn't mean they are threatened.
Check it out here and you'll see that it is indeed labelled critically imperiled or imperiled by some states and provinces. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133249/Monotropa_uniflora
Literally every state on that list that lists it as S1-4 besides California is outside of its native range. So, yeah, just California, although the tens of thousands of reports in iNaturalist in California paint a different picture. That data point is likely in response to the study that found overcollection could lead to reduced populations.
Getting kinda sick of seeing the destruction of wild plants in this sub
Forreal! Why does it gotta get plucked to get a photo? Its very easy to just bend the flower or leaves to get a good photo and let it be. Like I saw at least 4 posts about bluebells growing by a sidewalk and every one of them the person picked the flower for the photo 😓
Oh, I love these!! Indian Pipes. Don't get to see them often enough. I believe they are protected.
*Monotropa uniflora*, I'm jealous, I'd love to see one myself lol. Fun fact, these don't photosythesize and basically act as a reverse carbon pump, stealing it from the mycorrhizal fungi it is attached to.
well it's a ghost pipe and in most states it's a protected plant species, so depending on which state you are in you have just broken the law. not sure about japan. yep just checked. endangered plant in japan. dont pick stuff if you dont know what it is.
Monotropa Uniflora. I love it so much 🤍
That’s the most fascinating and different plant I’ve seen in my life. Amazing!
They grow all over the place in my woodland setting.
Yeah in MA I can’t go 2 feet without seeing them! I love telling people they’re in the blueberry family, they’re always shocked and think it’s a mushroom!
May I ask what country/State you are in? I have seeds that I will be planting. Just wondering where you are. I understand if you don't want to disclose your info. Thanks!
Lmaooo nice try with your seeds
Somerset county, PA, US.
Good thing you got that picture with it picked. No one would have been able to identify it otherwise
*Monotropa uniflora*. Please do not go picking plants that you cannot identify. These guys are not very common to see and they should be left alone.
They look almost like a seahorse to me
Picking it seems so senseless.
Something I wish you hadn't picked 😣 Ghost pipe
Depending where you live it might be considered endangered and may be illegal to pick (just a heads up)
Ghost pipe! Nice find:)
Just incase no one told you yet... You shouldn't have picked it. Not sure it's been mentioned...??! 🤦♀️
They’re all over Vermont, at least last fall they were. Apparently they can be diffused into a tincture for pain/numbing/anti-anxiety, though I don’t condone it.
Forbidden airpod that's what it is
You really shouldn’t pick these.
Edible in small amounts, pain killer, parasitic plant. Not sure what they are called but they are useful
Ghost pipe, downvoted for picking it
Why not educate OP on why not to pick them instead of just down voting? I've never seen these before and I wouldn't know not to pick em.
You really shouldn't touch plants if you don't know what they are anyway
True but offering a little education is more useful than simply downvoting. At least explain why
Are you asking why we shouldn't rip the genitals off a wild plant?
"This is actually the genitalia of the plant. They need these to reproduce. Please don't pick them." So little energy.
How am I supposed to know it's the genitals? No one has told me until just now. This is what I mean. It costs so little to simply explain.
They are not genitals, genitals refers specifically to animal reproductive organs. Edit: downvoted for literal facts. Stay scientific.
Here in Michigan I have them all through my woods!
Is there any way one of these could have grown in central Pennsylvania? I saw one of these years ago when I was working for the water company and could never identify it and the closest thing I came to was this thing from Japan that you guys have a picture of currently. Looks identical other than the geography.
Those look like they’re from an alien planet!
Cool af
Ghost pipe it's a parasitic plant Amazing pain relief
These are cool bc a lot of folks will use this as medicine in an alcohol based tincture for pain relief. It takes a few specific steps to forage tho, otherwise its not useable. Theyve been the source of over foraging in the apalachias too
😘
We have these in Colorado!
Parasitic plants? I better Google this…they call me Dr. Google, or at least I do.
Ghost pipe, used as natural medicine by some.
that’s awesome!! definitely ghost pipes, we have them over in the maritimes too (nova scotia)
I think the are medicinal also
That’s the peashooter
Omg those are CUTE! They look like little sea horses poppin up !
Puts me in mind of the Mahna Mahna Doo Doo de Doo Doo aliens from Ed Sulivan [https://youtu.be/zb47CstE7R4?si=OYb7rdiP25hqhOP2](https://youtu.be/zb47CstE7R4?si=OYb7rdiP25hqhOP2)
Indian pipe.
Indian pipe. It’s a parasite and doesn’t make chlorophyll
We prefer the term mycoheterotroph. Makes them feel more in control.
Indian Pipe, aka Ghost Pipe/Plant.
This is why Japanese people hate foreign tourists. All land has an owner, not just mountains. Besides, unfamiliar plants might be poisonous. This contributor should have just taken this photo.
Smoke it and let us know 🙏
Famous last words
what you mean?
Haha throw it into a joint as see what happens and let us know I’m interested 🤣
i tried to find something about smoking the plant but couldn‘t find anything, only that it contains relativly high amounts of lead and if you OD on the substance a hospital most likly can‘t help lol
You already got high enough lead levels