In Maine, Have You Ever Seen the Super Unique Ghost Pipe Plant?

I see a lot of weird stuff in the woods behind my house.

I don't live any place particularly special. I'm not in some mega-remote location or anything. To be fair, I don't exactly live right in town either. But I'm in a woodsy enough area, that if I decide to do a little walking out back with my dog or something, there's a good chance I may see something a little funky.

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I've seen Lady Slippers on my property, I've seen any number of mushrooms, plus tons of wild strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. But sometimes I'm actually blessed to see something I've never seen before in my life. Over the weekend, my wife introduced me to a patch of Ghost Pipe plants in our yard.

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What the heck is that you ask?

Sometimes they're just called Ghost Plants, or Indian Pipe. It's science-y name is monotropa uniflora. If you think it's going to be hard to find among other plants in your yard, you're absolutely wrong. You'll spot this one in no time, because it's completely white and almost see-through.

Ghost Pipes don't produce any chlorophyll, and they don't photosynthesize for nutrients. They actually kind of syphon it off surrounding trees. Because they can produce food that way, they don't really need sunlight. Since there's no chlorophyll and no photosynthesis, the little white plant flourishes in its own.

Are they rare?

Yes and no. I've never seen them before, but that doesn't mean anything. They are found in every corner of the US from Maine to California, and Florida to Canada. And once they establish in a spot, they usually do pretty well. Also, they're not toxic to people in any way that's known.

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You can touch them, although it pretty much kills them because they're so fragile. And you could technically eat them, although they won't taste like much. Some compare cooked ones to a really weak asparagus flavor. But really, they're just cool to look at. Sometimes, that's all a plant really has to do.

I doubt the plants are haunted, even though they're called Ghost Plants...