It is a plant, just of a sort that has turned to parasitism I suppose for its nutrients. I believe they are part of a larger family of plants named saprophytes.
Comment on put that in your pipe and smoke it
ColdWater@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
So is it in anyway related to mushroom?
Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 week ago
The other person is correct in calling it a mycohrtetotroh, sporophyte implies it lives of decaying plant matter which it doesn’t. Plants like these are interesting, no chlorophyll, what your seeing is only the flower and stem, the leaves are highly vestigial, there’s no main stem
Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Ah! Thanks for the correction. I should’ve done a side-search to check before posting.
Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 week ago
this species tend to be “more common” but its very unusual that it shows up on different continents, but not in a continious population, disjunct its called. it occurs north america all the way to china, russia, india, ,etc. but tends to be rare consider how fickle these plants are(super specific fungi and environment). thier seeds are most similar to orchids(which can be partial or full mycoheterotroph). fun fact there used to be another type of mycohetroph in the americas, this is even more unusual since its mostly found in asia(around 100+ species) thismia americana was suppose to grow in lake calumut area, but it went shortly extinct(that we know of) after it was discovered, they had been trying to find this plant ever since, 1912(by Pfiffer). because mycohetereotrophs are rarely seen plants,(you wouldnt know its there unless flowering), like a normal plant you know its there even without leaves, it has stems, branches etc.
crypt0cler1c@infosec.pub 1 week ago
Ghost Pipe is a fungi.
juliebean@lemm.ee 1 week ago
it’s a plant, but rather than photosynthesizing, it is what’s called a mycoheterotroph, which means it gets its nutrients by siphoning stuff from fungal networks in the soil, so, sorta?