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Ghost-Flowers-Feb-8.jpg

Growing in quiet obscurity, the Ghost Flower or Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) spends most of its life underground and lacks leaves, chlorophyll or even true roots and feeds on fungi. They surface only when conditions are favorable to bloom. Since they don't require sunlight to survive these plants have lost nearly all their natural color and their flowers, when they appear, are a ghostly, unnatural white.
They're more camouflaged than they appear here and are difficult to spot. I used too much flash and lost some definition. They're very delicate, so if you can't resist the urge to touch them, they'll fall apart. I discovered these on a hike in Central Arkansas.


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Beverly Wickersham08-Feb-2006 20:31
A nice group of Indian Pipe.