Whenever we pleasantly walk through late summer’s woodlands, Indian pipe often turns upward in those forest floors displaying considerable leaf litter. We all know it gets by without photosynthesizing with chlorophyll, but there are some surprising aspects to note about this plant beyond common knowledge.
I have only recently learned it is not a fungus at all — just because it’s white and doesn’t have any chlorophyll. It’s really a flowering plant. Sources say this is one of about 3000 species of non-photosynthetic (i.e. heterotrophic) flowering plants.
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