by Renee Davis
Notes, sketches, and plein air watercolor of Monotropa uniflora by Renee Davis.
Ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is striking. It is a mycoheterotroph[1], or a plant that grows **from fungi. Lacking chlorophyll or photosynthetic processes, it obtains its carbon from mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. This allows it to flourish in dense, shaded temperate forests where sunlight is scarce.
Its distinctive and ethereal appearance draws people in. It is white with Victorian-pale translucent petals and scales − a gesture like a paintbrush lifting off the canvas. It evokes a sense of gentility and care: you want to care for it, but also want it to care for you. When it is harvested and extracted in alcohol, this white plant becomes a purple extract. You want to hold it up to the light and invoke magic.
It’s a charismatic mycoheterotroph. It's natural to be enchanted and interested. Search results for ghost pipe will take you to blog posts portraying it as a remedy for pain, grief, and anxiety. You will even find claims for its use as an opioid substitute! Searches will also take you to shopping ads or product listings on Facebook, Etsy, Amazon, and eBay. On these platforms you can find tinctures, infused honeys, roll-on topicals, many product listings claiming these amazing effects. What’s behind these claims, and what does ghost pipe really have to offer?
The present epidemic of isolation, anguish, and sorrow leaves many people desperate for help. Touted as a remedy for these conditions, ghost pipe commerce and trade are climbing.
The reality is that ghost pipe’s gifts cannot be extracted. Its real gift is exposing the root of our pain and anxiety and so true remedies can emerge. Ghost pipe reveals that the root of pain and anxiety is collective as much as it may seem personal.
Capitalism is founded on extraction. An impulse to extract and consume a plant without regard for its individual or ecological well-being is parasitic. Will engaging in this this extraction soothe or remedy pain? It reinforces a role as the consumer, one who lives among things that exist for our consumption. This perpetuates the problem; the poison disguised as the sought-after medicine.[2]
Google searches for ghost pipe have increased in recent years alongside blog and social media posts about the plant. They rise in the early 2010’s with a noticeable uptick in 2016 (Google Trends 2022) and increase dramatically from 2020 to the present. They spike in midsummer (when it blooms) and are most concentrated in the northeast and northwest corners of the United States (where it is most abundant).
What is the basis for the current popularity of ghost pipe? Contemporary herbal interest originated with a group of 19th-century physicians known as the Eclectics. King’s American Dispensatory is a key reference text for them and is referenced widely in the herbal blogosphere. Ghost pipe is described here as a remedy for convulsions, anxiety, and pain (Felter and Lloyd 1905, p. 1277). The origins of this entry are an 1881 case report detailing the use of 5 drops to treat convulsions in a pregnant woman (Monotropa in convulsions 1881). No other clinical or treatment details are available, and the original author is unknown.
There are no biomedical or ethnobotanical studies supporting the use of this plant for any health-related purpose.
M. uniflora, Olympic mountains July 2019. Photo by Renee Davis.
Despite its popularity, there is still much to be discovered about ghost pipe’s biology and ecology. Its dependence on delicate soil ecology renders it vulnerable to anything affecting forests, such as droughts, fires, nitrogen runoff, timber harvests, and logging activities. We know a few things about pollination and reproduction: it utilizes Bombus pollinators and reproduces through dust seed production (Klooster and Culley 2009; Bidartondo 2005, p. 346). While germination chronology and mycorrhizal influences have been explored with a related Monotropa species (Leake et al 2004), cultivation methods have yet to be determined. It is, therefore, only found in the wild.
Ghost pipe is also known to enter prolonged periods of dormancy lasting up to several years [3]. This makes it difficult to monitor stands over a long period of time. The reasons for these dormancy periods are unknown.
As a mycoheterotroph, the growth and development of ghost pipe is limited by the carbon it can sequester from R. brevipes. Carbon-limited plants like ghost pipe adapt anatomically to reduce carbon loss to respiration, such as producing scales instead of leaves. The impacts of harvesting the roots and aerial parts of the plant have not been characterized or reported in the scientific literature. Finally, any negative impacts to R. brevipes, such as devastations to soil structure, contamination, or destruction to host trees will also harm ghost pipe.
Despite these significant data deficiencies, ghost pipe’s global ecological status is ranked by NatureServe as G5/secure (NatureServe 2022). However, local realities vary widely. In some states like California, the plant is rare and threatened. Many states in North American have no status rank or missing data altogether. As a result of NatureServe’s secure global ranking, few consider its ecological status or future.