Kip’s Comments - August 17, 2026

No Photosynthesis Happening

Although according to my database I was on the hunt a few days early, but I successfully located some Indian Pipe (aka ghost plant) this morning. Finding the plants this year was not as easy as other years, perhaps because I was early. Still, I found some.

Indian pipe is one of the few plants that lacks chlorophyll that makes typical plants green. Without chlorophyll and photosynthesis, Indian pipe parasitizes mycorrhizal fungi associated with trees for its energy.

Habitat for Indian pipe tends to be dark, rich forests. The plants grow only several inches to less than a foot tall. In the case of the Indian pipe that I found today, all were much shorter than surrounding vegetation - nettles and other greenery.

In the same habitat where Indian pipe thrives a person is likely to also find mosquitoes and ticks. Today no ticks found me, but the mosquitos sure did after the air warmed up. Be prepared if you go looking for Indian pipe!

Indian Pipe - Image 1136069

Indian Pipe - Image 1136115