Indian Pipes

 

I took a short walk along a favorite dirt road in the New Jersey Pine Barrens this week. It turned out to be a remarkable experience. I saw more clusters of Indian pipes that day than I have seen during the rest of my life combined. There were scads of them! It was an Indian pipe extravaganza! And their odd little bell-shaped flowers were blooming. And the flowers were full of seed pods. Click to enlarge. Note the lovely pink accents. 

Indian pipes are curious flowering plants. They don't make their own food through photosynthesis. They don't even have chlorophyll, so they are not green. 

They look a bit like mushrooms, right? They are also called ghost plants. 

We find them near trees, where they intrude on existing associations between the trees and underground fungi. The fungi are “mycorrhizal,” that is, they grow around roots. The relationship between the trees and the fungi is mutually beneficial. Mycorrhizal fungi enhance the root zone of the trees and provide access to more water and nutrients. In return, they obtain sugars produced by the trees through photosynthesis. Good for both. 

Along comes the Indian pipes. Their roots parasitically take water, sugars, and nutrients from the fungi and give nothing in return. Bold strategy, Indian pipes! 

The large round structures in the flowers are seed capsules. Inside them are dust-small seeds that will be released on the air when the time is right.