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Monotropa uniflora - (image 1 of 6)

Taxonomy

Family: Monotropaceae

Habitat

Rich woods.

Associates

Myco-heterotrophic, parasitizing mycorrhizal fungi associated with trees (Image 4).

 Distribution

Western coastal states and most of the US east of the Rockies.

Morphology

Achlorophyllous perennial to 20 cm, solitary or in groups. Stems pearly white, occasionally pink to red. Leaves scale-like. Flowers solitary, nodding, to 16 mm; petals oblong, widest at the tip; anthers transverse, opening by 2 clefts across the top; style short, thick, longer than the ovary; fruit a capsule, becoming erect and blackening when dry, opening from the top downward.   

Notes

Flowers June to August

Wetland indicator: Facultative

Obtains energy from fungi in the family Russulaceae, including Russula spp.and Lactarius spp. (Yang and Pfister 2006).

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Yang S and. Pfister DH. 2006. Monotropa uniflora plants of eastern Massachusetts form mycorrhizae with a diversity of russulacean fungi.
Mycologia, 98(4), 535-540.

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