Monotropa hypopithys L.
Pinesap, Dutchman’s pipe, yellow bird’s-nest, false beech-drops
Pinesap is a North American native. How does a pale cream-colored (reddish or brown in the fall) plant get its energy? It isn’t green (or purple), so it cannot perform photosynthesis. Instead, it saphrophytic—it obtains energy from decaying plant matter and from mycelia, the underground rootlike network of fungi. It is found on shaded forest floors where its ability to thrive without light gives it an advantage. These are called pinesap because they favor the acid soil of pine forest floors.
Plants: 3–10″ (7.6–25 cm) in height, unfolding like fiddleheads from the ground. In the fall, plants may be tinged with bright red.
Leaves: Stems are pale brown and apparently leafless. Actually there are alternate leaves, but they are small (about ¼″ (6.3 mm)), closely attached to the stem, and triangular in shape.
Flowers: Cream-colored, about ¼–½″ (6.3–12 mm) in size, bell shaped, in clusters of about a dozen. Flowers appear from June to October.
Fruits: Flowers mature to a capsule that dries and splits along its sides, releasing seeds.
Habitats: On shaded forest floors where its ability to thrive without light gives it an advantage. These are called pinesap because they favor the acid soil of pine forest floors.
Online References:
References:
Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 230
9/15/2018 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 2½ × 2½″ (6.5 × 6.2 cm) 
7/25/2013 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 3 × 3″ (7.5 × 8 cm) 
8/21/2018 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 1¾ × 1¾″ (4.9 × 5 cm) 
7/30/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 4″ (8.7 × 10 cm) 
7/25/2013 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 5 × 6″ (13 × 14 cm) 
7/30/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 17 cm) 
8/14/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Old Long Loop, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 2½ × 4½″ (7.1 × 11 cm) 
7/30/2017 · Jason’s Cutoff and Nearby Trails, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 2½ × 3″ (6.6 × 7.5 cm) 
8/1/2021 · Houghton Graves Park, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 3 × 4½″ (7.9 × 12 cm) 
8/14/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Old Long Loop, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 3 × 4″ (7.9 × 11 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Ericales | Tea, persimmon, blueberry, Brazil nut, azalea, many others |
| Family | Monotropaceae | Monotropa family, which lack chlorophyll and get nutrition from parasitizing fungi |
| Genus | Monotropa | From Greek monos, “one,” and tropos, “direction,” since flowers always turn to the same side or, according to another source, referring to the sharp curve in the stem |
| Species | hypopithys | “Under pines” |
Monotropa hypopithys description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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