Plant of the Month: Pinesap
I ran across a near-perfect specimen of another one of our mycoheterotrophic plants on a hike up to Excelsior Ridge in mid-June. This one is pinesap, Monotropa hypopitys. It’s fairly common in our dry forests, growing under Douglas-firs or hemlocks. If you’re following along each month, you’ll recall that I introduced you to a rather uncommon mycoheterotroph last month, California broomrape.
Pinesap is in the same family as heather, rhododendron, and huckleberries. But unlike those big and showy plants, pinesap doesn’t have any chlorophyll and can’t make its own food. It depends on a complex relationship with fungi in the soil to connect its roots to those of a host plant from which it derives its nutrients.
You might find pinesap as just one or two stems, or a big clump of many stems like the one I found growing out of a carpet of moss last month. It can be anywhere from 2-10 inches tall, depending I presume on the amount of moisture in the soil.
The genus name, Monotropa, refers to all the flowers appearing on the same side of the stem. The common name is derived from the plants growing under pines (and other conifers) and that it saps the energy of its host plant. Although it’s deriving energy from a host, the amount is so small that there doesn’t appear to be any negative effect on the host.
Like other mycoheterotrophs, pinesap is a plant you’ll want to enjoy in the forest rather than attempting to bring it into your garden. Pinesap grows in every state except Nevada, Utah, and the Dakotas, as well as in most of British Columbia. In Britain it grows under beech and hazelnut trees as well as pines.
See more photos of pinesap on my Pacific Northwest Wildflowers website. You’ll note that an alternate spelling is Monotropa hypopithys.