Common names:
Indian pipe, ghost plant, corpse plant
Family:
Scientific name:
Monotropa uniflora
Main flower color:
Range:
Northwest California, west Oregon, west Washingon, north Idaho and west Montana, plus scattered locations in the eastern Great Plains
Height:
Up to 10 inches
Habitat:
Forests; cool, moist, shady locations
Leaves:
Small, dark brown, against the stem
Season:
June to August
Indian pipe, monotropa uniflora, looks like a type of fungus, but this strange, uncommon plant is a wildflower, found in similar habitats to fungi; the cool, moist woodland of the Pacific and northern Rocky Mountain states. The pendent, bell-shaped flowers have between 3 and 8 petals, and around 10 orange anthers; they grow singly at the tip of short, white, waxy stems which have no true leaves, just small brownish scales at widely-spaced intervals. Flowers are usually pure white but occasionally have a pink or red tint.
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