4 August 2026
On Saturday afternoon someone told me that if I went down a certain path I’d see flowers that I’d never seen before. Indeed they are unusual.
Today a Quiz. Whose flowers are these? Who is their primary pollinator?
Please leave a comment with your answer. I’ll store up your comments and provide the answer later today.
The Answer. UPDATE: 8/4, 11:11am
Everyone correctly identified the flower as “American Indian ghost pipe plant” which I call “Indian pipe” and some people call “ghost plant” (Monotropa uniflora), a ghost because it has no chlorophyll to make it green.
Regarding pollinators, Wikipedia says:
The flowers of M. uniflora are visited by various bee and fly species, most commonly bumblebees. Bumblebees are an important pollen dispersal agent for the plant, crawling into the flower for pollen.
— Wikipedia: Monotropa uniflora
Cool Facts and Down the Rabbit Hole (figuratively speaking):
Since Indian pipe has no chlorophyll it’s a parasite on other plants. Its hosts are fungi in the Russulaceae family. At the time I took the flower picture I did not know this so I didn’t look for mushrooms. What might they have looked like?
The flowers are in Slippery Rock Twp, Butler County so I searched iNaturalist for Russula species in the same township in August. This one was photographed in August 2023 at Wolf Creek Narrows, posted to iNaturalist by spamanda. It has not yet been identified to the species level in iNaturalist.
They remind me of some kind of fungus or parasite plant, but I’m doubting that.
Indian Pipe. But I don’t know the pollinator so that will be interesting to learn.
I used Picture This app and it says that it is a Ghost Plant. Also known as Ghost Pipe, Indian Pipe. It is in the Heather Family
Ghost pipe. I don’t know the pollinator.
This is Monotropa uniflora, also known as the American Indian ghost pipe plant, and it’s pollinated by bees & insects. I’ve encountered it numerous times during hikes in the woods of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire & learned it as “Indian pipes” as a child.
It looks like a ghost plant. No idea who pollinates it, maybe a fly or some type of bug.