Monotropa uniflora (ghost flower, Indian pipe, corpse plant)

Here is a bizarre plant that's sometimes mistaken for a bizarre fungus.  Monotropa uniflora is usually white (though sometimes varying shades of pink), waxy, and tends to grow on areas of the forest floor that receive little light.  It grows in a single, leafless stem with one flower (or sometimes two!) on the top.  The flowers spend most of the plant's life drooping downwards (resulting in the common name, Indian pipe), but once fertilized they stiffen and point straight up, form a seed pod, disperse their seeds via wind, and then die.  A short and simple life, really.

As evidenced by the lack of green, this plant lacks chlorophyll - therefore, photosynthesis isn't so easy - therefore, it's gotta get its nutrients elsewhere.  Quite a lot of plants are parasitic, growing on the roots or stems of other plants and getting their nutrients directly.  M. uniflora takes it one step further, getting its nutrients from fungi that gets its nutrients from the root system of a plant!  While the fungus (M. uniflora specifically utilizes certain members of the family Russulaceae) and its host plant have a mutual relationship (the fungus derives nutrients from the plant, but also helps the plant to absorb more water and minerals from the ground  - a relationship referred to as a mycorrhizal association, FYI.  Our little ghost flower, unbeknownst to our happy little couple, pops its roots into the fungus and enjoys its life in the shadow of the tree from which it indirectly feeds.
Isn't nature neat?

Having completed their life cycle, the plant dies.

Despite the unusual appearance, this plant (and a number of similar myro-heterotrophic species) are in the same family as rhododendrons, azaleas, and the ever-delicious blueberries.
M. uniflora can be found throughout most of the US, parts of Canada, and elsewhere! and usually grows between late spring and early fall.

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