Indian pipe

Indian pipe, common name for the genus Monotropa and for the family Monotropaceae, low flowering plants of north temperate zones. They are chlorophylless saprophytes with a funguslike appearance. Each stem has scalelike leaves and, with its nodding flower, resembles a pipe. The plant's waxy white or yellowish-white color has given rise to such names as corpse plant and ghost flower. The related snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) of the Sierra Nevadas is a bright red species that shoots up and blooms as soon as the snow melts. Indian pipes, snow plants, and related saprophytes are classed by most botanists as a separate family, the Monotropaceae; by others they are included in the family Ericaceae (heath family). Both families are classified in the Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Ericales.

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Indian pipe

Nongreen herbaceous plant (Monotropa uniflora) that is saprophytic (living on the remains of dead plants). Clusters grow in moist, shady, wooded areas of North America and Asia. The entire plant is white or grayish, occasionally pink, and turns black as it dries out. A single odourless, cup-shaped flower droops from the tip of a stalk 6–10 in. (15–25 cm) tall. The leaves, which lack chlorophyll and do not perform photosynthesis, are small scales. The name reflects the resemblance of this plant to a miniature Indian peace pipe with its stem stuck in the ground.