Under some mountain laurel, popping out the wet forest floor were these white delicate flora - looking like albino rose buds. At first I wondered if it was some strange plant, a plant with no color, something from a fantasy world crossing over into my world.I had accidently trampled one of the flower shaped heads off - and got to look at the very center....
My friend Mark (who's helping me build my donkey fence) was standing there with me, and said it was a type of mushroom! If I had been the first to discover this fungi I think I would have named it something really hardcore.... like the Angel Of Death. Or Tears Of Angels. White Lion? 
Have ya'll ever seen this? Can anyone help me ID it.... i am hoping it's real name is as good as my hair band names!
Xoxoxo
Xoxoxo
23 comments:
Ghost Plant
Corpse Plant
Indian Pipe
Monotropa uniflora
the first 2 names are pretty cool :-)
I saw these for the first time a few years ago and was totally captivated! They look so COOL... and weird... eerie!
I couldn't tell if they were flower or fungus. The ones I've seen here have a pink tinge and look magical.
Hey Liberty!
Oh goody, it totally has a macabre name as it should! They really are very eerie and unusual to see in person - striking.
I like that the names allude to death, my Angel Of Death name wasn't far off!
My friend Mark said he'd only seen them when the buds open up to paper thin petals! Can't wait to see that.
xoxox
Though Indian Pipe looks like a fungus, it is actually a parasitic wildflower that lacks clorophyll and, as a result, the familiar green leaves and stems of other wildflowers. These plants bloom everywhere in the summertime where I live on the east coast.
I dig the root of indian pipe--it's a strong antiviral. You have to dig a circle around the root and gently lift the earth with the roots--they are a fine mat--then rinse in a stream to remove the dirt and tincture the whole root mass.
kirk - good to know about the antiviral properties of the roots, thanks!
Hey John, thanks for clarifying that it isnt actually a mushroom, but a regular plant.
They are VERY delicate like a mushroom though - and kinda rubbery like one too....
How cool that you have lots of them where you are - i too am on the east coast in north carolina!
Kirk!
WOO, thanks for the info! I second what Stephanie said.
I should probably clarify that I use both the root and the above ground plant to tincture. The indian pipe plant is delicate and I usually find a small cluster to harvest--I cut the ground around the group with a knife and remove the plants like a big plug then gently rinse in my stream. I tincture the whole thing together. Put as much as you can in a mason jar-cover with vodka--wait 3-4 weeks-strain. It keeps for a long time. simple as it should be.
I came across these while hiking today at Harold Parker state forest. I was wondering what they were as I don't ever recall seeing them before . They are quite magical looking. I posted a pic I took on FB hoping someone might be able to identify it with no luck. Thank-you for the interesting info in the comments.
Kirk, I dig it man, I dig it too. Kinda too creepy to actually touch tho. OK dig this, they are an actual flower (but not an orchid, which sometimes grow a little like this, and both can be red) but they live parasitically off of a symbiotic fungus.
Is that confusing? They are a flower that is a parasite on a fungus that is a parasite on a tree. Keep digging. The fungus fixes nitrogen for tree roots that can't, and the tree of course donates photosynthate in return. These spooky little beyond-the-grave buddies just jump on that fungus, taking both the nitrogen and the photosynthate. Since it doesn't have to photosynthesize for itself, it should get a job and a haircut. Also, that explains why it isn't green. a leaf left in a swimming pool will turn this same color when the green (chloroplasts) wash out. gives me the willies yo.
Girl whose website this is: You are the cat's pajamas! you must go on a picnic with me ;) I want to offer to teach some classes at this event. I just invested in an gig called Firefly that takes place in the woods outside of Flagstaff. Workshops, DJs, bug bites, barefoot hippies etc. but I honestly don't know much about it, just helping some homies out with startup cost. is this outside Flagstaff? and next weekend?
Can you set me up with info on how to offer classes? I will do it for free of course. I teach high school science, learning disabilities, conversational spanish, adult literacy, bicycle maintenance and music lessons. Mostly just high school biology and music lessons tho, and how to make instruments with everyday trash/recycle.
Kirk, I dig it man, I dig it too. Kinda too creepy to actually touch tho. OK dig this, they are an actual flower (but not an orchid, which sometimes grow a little like this, and both can be red) but they live parasitically off of a symbiotic fungus.
Is that confusing? They are a flower that is a parasite on a fungus that is a parasite on a tree. Keep digging. The fungus fixes nitrogen for tree roots that can't, and the tree of course donates photosynthate in return. These spooky little beyond-the-grave buddies just jump on that fungus, taking both the nitrogen and the photosynthate. Since it doesn't have to photosynthesize for itself, it should get a job and a haircut. Also, that explains why it isn't green. a leaf left in a swimming pool will turn this same color when the green (chloroplasts) wash out. gives me the willies yo.
Girl whose website this is: You are the cat's pajamas. you must go on a picnic with me ;) I want to offer to teach some classes at this event. I just invested in an gig called Firefly that takes place in the woods outside of Flagstaff. Workshops, DJs, bug bites, barefoot hippies etc. but I honestly don't know much about it, just helping some homies out with startup cost. is this outside Flagstaff? and next weekend?
Can you set me up with info on how to offer classes? I will do it for free of course. I teach high school science, learning disabilities, conversational spanish, adult literacy, bicycle maintenance and music lessons. Mostly just high school biology and music lessons tho, and how to make instruments with everyday trash/recycle.
Way cool! They are in Montana too. So unusual, never seen them before and haven't seen them since. The ones I found had black outline.
I saw some Today an kept going back to look at them only to see them grow more
I was walking in the woods when I saw this magical plant. I didn't dare to call it a mushroom because they don't look like flowers; but the lack of color and the consistency of it looked like that of a mushroom. What a beautiful creation. The ones I saw here were white with a touch of pink. Jewels of the forest. I found them in New Jersey.
I found a group of pinkish ones in a forest in Wisconsin. A rare beauty! Thank you for posting this. The comments on this blog are the answer I was looking for!
We have some in Camp Kirkwood in Southeastern North Carolina. I took a picture, but it is very blurry and would be embarrassed to post.
I'm in Michigan I c them every spring while morel hunting.very kewl!
Still blooming in August in Central/Northern Vermont
Wow I have found a patch of these beautiful flower like mushroom your calling Indian pipe do they have any medicinal purposes I have lung cancer but talked to an herbalist yesterday she seems to think it an infection of some kind she said fungal viral or bacterial she feels I can cure it through herbal medical I was wondering if this is something I should try and how do I prepare it
L
Wow I have found a patch of these beautiful flower like mushroom your calling Indian pipe do they have any medicinal purposes I have lung cancer but talked to an herbalist yesterday she seems to think it an infection of some kind she said fungal viral or bacterial she feels I can cure it through herbal medical I was wondering if this is something I should try and how do I prepare it
L
Found them in New York. Thought they were mushrooms or some type of fungus. Strande they are parasitic. They are cool tho.
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Years ago I saw a mushroom like this at my cabin in Wisconsin. I would post a picture but I’m not sure how to. Would love to know any information you get about it
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