The recent welcome rain has triggered the appearance in our
woods of one of nature’s most unusual plants. Few wildflowers
are as fungus-like, bleached and immaculate as the Indian Pipe.
In fact they look downright supernatural – regular little
phantoms of the deep shaded woods.
It is not uncommon for people to gasp in surprise at their
first sight of flowering Indian Pipes, so unusually beautiful and
mysterious are they. Get down upon your knees for a close look
and, when the light is just right, you may detect a very delicate
pink color on some of the plants.
It is difficult to imagine that a seed-producing flower can be
colorless. Their brittle, white, fiber-like roots obtain this
mystic plant’s food mostly from decomposing vegetable matter.
This qualifies it to be classed as a saprophyte, which in Greek
means "rotten plant." It also derives a small amount
of its nourishment from living roots giving it parasitic
tendencies as well.
People with vivid imaginations have nicknamed the Indian Pipe
the ice plant, corpse plant, Dutchman’s pipe and fairy smoke.
Its generic name, Monotropa, means one turn. At an early
stage of its development the flowering stem is turned slightly to
one side. Also the plant turns straight upward as the seeds
ripen and remains in that position throughout the winter. The
species name, uniflora, tells us it is a one-flowered
plant. Each clammy white blossom grows from a scape, a naked
flowering stem arising from the ground.
These weirdly beautiful herbs thrive among decayed leaves and
appear to survive best in heavily-shaded woods especially under
pine and oak trees. They can be found almost throughout
temperate North America. Our wildflower calendar indicates they
appear in this area usually during mid to late July and into
early August.
Each pallid, narrow, cup-shaped blossom has four, five or
occasionally six petals. The only leaves are mere scales or
bracts, few in number, situated along the stem. They are very
delicate, fine-toothed and paper-thin.
The flower hangs from its bent stalk like a bowed head until
nearly ripe. Slowly the blossom turns upward as though wanting
to say something. Now a delicately-colored portion of its
reproductive parts is displayed to the insect world. Eight to 10
tiny yellow-tipped stamens can be seen.
All during its growth, from seed to its flowering stage, the
Indian Pipe, lacking chlorophyll, has been unable to make its own
food as nearly all other seed plants do. Instead it has to
depend upon other living or non-living plants for all of its
strength. Finally it has lifted its head straight upward toward
the sky as though proudly shouting to the whole world,
"Well, at least I can produce my own seeds!"
The stiff upright plants gradually turn black and will easily
persist throughout winter. In fact it is common to see the
remains of small clusters of last year’s plants, about four to
eight inches tall, next to the new ghostly scapes.
Occasionally one encounters a surprisingly large cluster of 20
or more individual plants tightly grouped together. The clump of
plants I photographed in our damp, dimly lit and mosquito-laced
woods early this morning numbered around ten.
How smooth! How fragile and pale they are! Rarely will your
hikes through the woods reward you as wonderfully and
surprisingly as when you discover these tender little plants that
surely possess virtuous charms, the Indian Pipes, phantoms of the
woods.
Those mysterious little "phantoms of the woods,"
the Indian pipes, are now in bloom.
This column appeared in the Door County Advocate
on 08/09/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.
