That waxy white plant in your woods is trending on iNaturalist
iNaturalist Community
Native Plants
If you've ever spotted a ghostly white stalk poking up through dark forest leaf litter and wondered if it was a fungus, this is your cue to look closer and log it, since late summer is peak season for finding it.
Ghost Pipe looks like a pale, waxy mushroom but it's actually a flowering plant that has given up on photosynthesis entirely. Instead of making its own food from sunlight, it taps into underground fungal networks connected to nearby trees to steal nutrients. Right now hundreds of people across the country are finding and photographing it in shady forests, making it one of the most-observed plants on iNaturalist this week.
Key Findings
735 research-grade observations of Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) were logged on iNaturalist in one week
The species ranks among the most-observed plants on the platform this week
Ghost Pipe is a mycoheterotroph, meaning it gets energy from mycorrhizal fungi rather than photosynthesis
chevron_right Technical Summary
Ghost Pipe, a strange white plant that doesn't photosynthesize, is having a big moment on iNaturalist with 735 verified sightings logged in a single week, showing how many people are noticing this odd forest dweller right now.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) — 735 observations this week
Ghost Pipe is among the most observed plant species this week with 735 research-grade observations.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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