Ghost Pipe, Michigan’s Ghostly White Forest Plant, Is Gaining Fans Fast
Michigan residents are starting to take a heavy interest in more than just morel mushrooms, as Ghost Pipe plants are starting to sprout in forests in southwest Michigan.
There is a particular plant that is actually considered a parasitic species that is void of chlorophyll, giving it a pure white color known as Ghost Pipe or sometimes Indian Pipe.
They are perennial plants that grow anywhere from 4 to 8 inches tall with white five-parted flowers, and they usually start growing between June and September throughout most of the United States, but people here in Michigan are quickly becoming interested in them.
The reason it’s considered a parasitic species is that it steals nutrients and carbohydrates from tree roots through fungus, which is how it’s able to survive without chlorophyll, according to the US Forest Service.
But these plants are becoming just as popular as morel mushrooms are in the spring. With each passing year, more people are taking an interest in this plant not only for its looks, but for its supposed medicinal purposes.
Historically, people have harvested this plant and made tinctures out of it to use as a form of pain relief. There haven’t been many studies on it yet, though, as Eric Burkhardt, a team leader and senior author and teaching professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, told Penn State University:
This study is the first to scientifically document use of ghost pipe in North America, along with the growing influence of social media and the internet on how and why people are turning to ghost pipe as a medicinal plant.
One Kalamazoo resident has already found some while taking walks in Vicksburg and Portage
Tips for Morel Mushroom Hunting
Gallery Credit: Jessica On The Radio
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