Ghost Pipe - Monotropa Uniflora

Ghost pipe - Monotropa uniflora

I made this post about Monotropa uniflora to kick off the spooky season! While this post is not about a type of fungus, I could not resist writing about it. Besides its ghostly (lack of) colour, its dried out seed heads also look akin to pumpkins, which is just awesome!

Monotropa uniflora or ghost pipe does not contain chlorophyll (which gives most plants a green colour) and forms symbiotic relationships with fungi.

Description

The plant is waxy white with some black flecks, but some specimens have been described as having a pale pink colour and verey rarely having a deep red colour. The white variants have black flecks on their stems.

The ghost pipe ranges in height from 5 to 30 centimeters, sheathed with highly reduced leaves 5 to 10 millimetres long, which look akin to scales. These structures are small, thin, translucent and do not have petioles but instead extend in out of the stem.

The stem bears a single flower, which is 10 to 20 millimetres long, with 3 to 8 translucent petals, 10 to 12 stamens and a single pistil. The fruit, an oval capsule-like structure, grows and becomes upright when the seeds mature. After reaching maturity the stem and capsule look dark brown or black with a brittle texture.

The seeds of M. uniflora are small, ranging between 0.6 to 0.8 millimetres long. Once the plant has been pollinated, the seeds are pushed through the petals in a tiny slit and dispersed by the wind.

Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating food using the energy from sunlight a.k.a photosynthesizing, it is parasitic, and more specifically a mycoheterotroph. Most fungi are mycorrhizal and through the fungal web of mycorrhizae, M. uniflora roots ultimately tap food from where the host fungi are connected to the photosynthetic trees. The roots of this plant are covered in hairs called cystidia, which allow easy attachment to fungi hyphae. Its hosts are in the Russulaceae family.

Distribution and genetics

M. uniflora is found in three general distribution areas: Asia, North America, and Central and northern South America. DNA analysis has shown that these three populations are genetically distinct from one another. The species has 48 chromosomes.

Ecology

M. uniflora as a mycoheterotrophic plant asscociates with a small range of fungal hosts, all of them members of Russulaceae. It is often found growing neer beech trees in clumps of two or more with its fungal source nearby. Since it is not dependent on sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments like in the understory of dense forests.

It flowers from early summer to early autumn, often a few days after rainfall.

The flowers of the ghost pipe are frequented by various species of bees and flies, most commonly bumblebees. By crawling into the flower for pollen, bumblebees play a role as an important pollen dispersal agent.

References:

1.

en.wikipedia.org

Monotropa uniflora - Wikipedia

2.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/mycotrophic/monotropa_uniflora.shtml

Images:

1.

jungledragon.com

MONOTROPA UNIFLORA. - by mossy rock studio - JungleDragon

MONOTROPA UNIFLORA.. Indian Pipe

2.

en.wikipedia.org

Monotropa uniflora - Wikipedia

Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

@flamingears

@lameotello

@lovelyalicorn

@writingraccoon

@edukincon

@emmakapla

Spooky Fungi

I put all of the links to the images in the image description:)

If anyone wants me to make a more elaborate post on one or more of these species, just leave a comment or an ask:))

CW: if you do not like pictures of bugs, do not scroll further than the heading "Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps".

Devils's fingers - Clathrus archeri

Dead man's fingers - Xylaria polymorpha

Witches' butter - Tremella mesenterica

Black witches' butter - Exidia glandulosa

Devil's tooth fungus - Hydnellum peckii

Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

Purple jellydisc fungus - Ascocoryne sarcoides

Bleeding fairy helmet - Mycena haematopus

Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

@flamingears

@lameotello

@lovelyalicorn

@writingraccoon

@edukincon

@emmakapla

I'm obsessing over this song! I only started listening to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard yesterday, but it's awesome!

This music is amazing! I'll probably listen to this the whole autumn! To this and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

This song is so good! I'm dying! I love the halloween vibes! I'm legit counting the days 'till halloween.

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 1

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

I am fairly sure that the teeth (seen in the two pictures below) belong to the family Lamnidae and are from the species Cosmopolitodus hastalis.

If these teeth are in fact the teeth of Cosmopolitodus hastalis they ought to date back to the Miocene and Pliocene (which are the two epochs of the Neogene). Although the species was still alive during the Pleistocene, fossils found of Cosmopolitodus hastalis in Cadzand (in the Netherlands) date back to the Miocene and Pliocene.

One of the shark teeth (the left picture below) gifted to me is so severely eroded that I cannot visually identify it, however it is still a gorgeous fossil.

Between the various shark teeth I also found what I suspect to be a part of a fossilised chela (claw/pincer of a crab) (seen in the right picture below). Considering the location of the find I think it might be from Carcinus maenas and could date back to the Pliocene.

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 2

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

Up untill now I have only been able to identify one shark species, because the teeth are so characteristic. The teeth (seen in the picture below) belong to the species the Broadnose Sevengill Shark or Notorynchus cepedianus.

The Broadnose Sevengill Shark belongs to the family of Cow Sharks or Hexanchidae, which are considered the most primitive of sharks.

I actually just recently watched a documentary covering Broadnose Sevengill Sharks with Forrest Galante. It was called 'Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds', it was from Sharkweek 2023 and it was really good!

I also have two different teeth which I am having a lot more difficulties with identifying (see the two pictures below). If anyone has any clue of which species these teeth may belong to, please let me know:)