383/1096
[ stop the slideshow ]

Monotropa uniflora

20150809-K5ii-10606.jpg Cluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur ShelfCluster of Monotropa unifloraThumbnailsSulphur Shelf

This unusual flowering plant, which goes by such names as Indian Pipe, Ghost Flower, or Corpse Plant, is white because it lacks chlorophyll. It depends on a fungus for its nutrients; the fungus, in turn, depends on other plants.

Emily Dickinson called it "the preferred flower of life," and her first volume of poetry (published posthumously) had the flower on its cover.