That ghostly white plant in the woods is having a moment
iNaturalist Community
Mycorrhizal Networks
If you've ever spotted a waxy, all-white stalk poking through leaf litter and assumed it was a fungus or a dead plant, it's actually a living flowering plant that steals its food from underground fungal networks instead of making its own.
Ghost Pipe looks nothing like a typical plant because it's pure white and has no green leaves at all. That's because it doesn't bother with photosynthesis; instead, it taps into fungi in the soil that are already connected to nearby trees, essentially stealing sugar secondhand. Right now nearly a thousand people logged sightings of it in one week, which means late summer is prime time to spot one on a shaded forest walk.
Key Findings
924 research-grade Ghost Pipe observations were logged on iNaturalist in a single week
Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is a mycoheterotroph that gets carbon from mycorrhizal fungi rather than photosynthesis
The species is currently ranked among the most-observed plants on the platform, indicating a seasonal fruiting/flowering peak
chevron_right Technical Summary
Ghost Pipe, a strange white plant that doesn't photosynthesize, is having a big moment on iNaturalist with 924 verified sightings logged in a single week, showing just how many people are noticing this eerie forest dweller right now.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) — 924 observations this week
Ghost Pipe is among the most observed plant species this week with 924 research-grade observations.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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