Botany: Indian-pipe

Self-tutoring about local plants: the tutor mentions Indian-pipe.

Indian-pipe is a plant one can find in shaded coniferous forests along the south coast of BC. It likes humus-rich soil.

I’ve seen Indian-pipe a few times, appearing in a group of 5-12 stems, each rising about 10 cm from the forest floor, then curving down to end in a flower. It was entirely white, or a little greyish, both stem and flower. It was in full shade, near the base of a large conifer, just off the path.

Indian-pipe, via channels of fungi, receives nutrients from roots of coniferous plants.

Source:

Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.