Feature Article July 31
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Little GhostThis is the season to watch for the plant sometimes called Ghost-plant, or Ice-plant, but more commonly known as Indian Pipe, Monotropa uniflora.
From now to September you may be lucky enough to see this uncommon plant on the forest floor. It is a translucent, waxy-white, pipe-shaped plant, 4" to 10" tall, growing in shady woods on rich soil among decaying vegetation. Try to pick it, and it will bruise easily and will turn black or 'melt' when cut or handled. The best time to find it is after a heavy summer rain, and always in the shade, as it does not like sun. Sometimes called parasitic, the Indian Pipe is now considered by scientists to be an epiparasite, in that it forms a symbiotic relationship with another parasite, a fungus, and obtains its nutrients from the fungus which is parasitic on the roots of plants such as trees. The roots of the Indian Pipe never touch the plant or tree but are closely connected to the fungus. Because it obtains food in this way it does not need the green chlorphyll that non-parasitic plants and trees need to survive - therefore its striking white appearance.
When ready to bloom, the roots push stems up through the forest litter and on each stem a single, five-petalled flower develops, which faces downward, hence the shape resembles the clay pipe of the Indian. It is a flower with 5 petals and offers both nectar and pollen, though it has only scale-like leaves as bracts on the stem. Once fertilized the flower will turn upward as the seeds develop (Monotropa means "one turn") and if you know where to look in the fall or winter, you may find the small stems with urn-shaped seed cases, filled with seeds that are like a fine dust, which will blow away during the winter and early spring.
Indians used the ground-up root as medicine for colds and fevers as well as an eye lotion, and the early Americans used it for a variety of illnesses, but Indian Pipe does contain toxic substances and now is rarely referred to in herbal medicine.
Here is Poetess Mary Potter Thacher Higginson's description of these unusual plants:
In shining groups, each stem a pearly ray
Weird flecks of light within the shadowed wood,
They dwell aloof, a spotless sisterhood.
No Angelus, except the wild bird's lay,
Awakes these forest nuns; yet night and day,
Their heads are bent, as if in prayerful mood.
A touch will mar their snow, and tempests rude defile; But in the mist fresh blossoms stray
From spirit-gardens, just beyond our ken.
Observations: July 24 - Helm in Oconto discovered Indian Pipes, as well as a variety of mushrooms. - Catherine Koch and Kim Courtney saw wild turkeys in a field on the Mountain Grove road. Call Jean Griffin at 268-2518 with your discoveries.
