The only ghost pipe I've been able to find so far this year. One of my favorite plants due to its ecology. Ghost pipes lack chlorophyll and are unable to photosynthesize. They parasitize a fungus that grows on tree roots to feed itself.
All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.
See also our Environment community, which is focused on weather, climate, climate change, and stuff like that.
(It's not mandatory, but we also encourage providing a description of your image(s) for accessibility purposes! See here for a more detailed explanation and advice on how best to do this.)
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
What's even cooler, they use the fungus as a conduit for sucking the juices of the plant root the fungus is attached to.
theres even a mix, in the same family there is partial mycoheterotrophy, which means they do both photosynthesis and parasitize the fungus. All orchids do this by the way, and some even lost thier cholrophyll completely, and some are found in north america too, check out coroallhiza orchids.
Yup, the pipe is literally this guy 🤣
This is the second time I've noticed you in the wild. This platform is too small...
Heya Tempus Fugit! 👋
Unless you mean it is too small for the both of us... spits tobacco
its symbiotic for the tree, the tree gives sugars, and the fungus in return gives minerals that are deep in the soil.