pinesap
aka false beechdrops, yellow bird’s-nest
Monotropa hypopitys
Ericaceae

On a recent nice evening I talked Steve into going for a walk with me to look for certain ferns.  He agreed to go when I promised not to take my camera.  This is sort of a left-handed good luck tactic, as I seldom fail to find something interesting when I don’t have my camera handy.

It worked: we found this tiny stand of pinesap on a hillside above the trail.  I took a few crappy iPhone pics, which later served as a guide, since I was able to look at the geotag and find the stand again, this time with camera and tripod but sans Steve.

As I wrote about Indian pipe last month, the Monotropas aren’t actually saprophytes; they get nutrients by parastizing certain fungi that form a symbiotic relationship with certain trees.  As such, they have very specific growing requirements, and are somewhat rare within their range.

“Once turned, under the pines” is a literal translation of the botanical name of this plant, which is found throughout the US and Canada except for four states and the extreme north.  While researching I found that ITIS* does not recognize the species name, and instead reverses the genus and specific epithet, calling it Hypopitys monotropa.  This is probably based on genetic studies, as so many recent taxonomic reclassifications are.

Pinesap is endangered in Florida and threatened in Iowa.

*the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, about which I wrote yesterday