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Monotropa uniflora

Monotropa uniflora: Flower
Photo by Derrick Ditchburn. High resolution version

Common name:	Indian Pipe	Family:	Pyrolaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	1, 58, 235
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The plant contains several glycosides and is possibly toxic[222].
Range:	E. Asia - Japan. Most areas of N. America.
Habitat:	Damp coniferous woods in hills and mountains all over Japan[1, 58]. Dark rich woodlands in N. America[21].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	M. brittonii[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Corpse Plant [L], Fit Root [S], Indian Pipe [S,L], Indianpipe [P], One-flower Indian-pipe [B], Snowdrop [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	flora = flowered; uniflora = one flowered;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Shinleaf family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us; Us(Amerindian); Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.5m. . It is in flower from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

The whole plant can be cooked[177]. It is tasteless if eaten raw, but has a taste like asparagus when it is cooked[105].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antibacterial; Antispasmodic; Febrifuge; Hypnotic; Nervine; Odontalgic; Ophthalmic; Sedative; Tonic; Warts.

An infusion of the root is antispasmodic, hypnotic, nervine, sedative, tonic[21, 192, 222]. It is a good remedy for spasms, fainting spells and various nervous conditions[207]. It has been given to children who suffer from fits, epilepsy and convulsions[257].
The plant was used by some native North American Indian tribes to treat eye problems, the stem was bruised and the clear fluid of the stems applied to the eyes[213, 257]. The juice from the stems has also been used to treat nervous irritability, including fits and spasms[192]. It has been suggested in the past as a possible opium substitute[192].
An infusion of the leaves has been used to treat colds and fevers[257].
The crushed plant has been rubbed on bunions and warts in order to destroy them[257]. A poultice of the plant has been applied to sores that are difficult to heal[257].
The flowers have been chewed in order to bring relief from toothache[257].
Water extracts of the plant are bactericidal[222].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this plant but it should be hardy in this country. It is likely to require shady woodland conditions in a humus-rich moist soil,
It is a saprophytic plant, quite devoid of chlorophyll and depending totally on its host plant for nutrient[1].

Propagation

This is going to be an exceedingly difficult plant to propagate. The seed will need to be sown close to its host plant so one way would be to sow it in the leaf litter under established beech or coniferous trees[1]. Alternatively, you could try sowing the seed in a cold frame in a pot that already contains a potential host plant. If successful, grow the young plant on in the cold frame for a couple of years before planting it out close to an established beech or coniferous tree.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for monotropa uniflora (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Pyrolaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[192] Emboden. W. Narcotic Plants Studio Vista 1979 ISBN 0-289-70864-8
A lot of details about the history, chemistry and use of narcotic plants, including hallucinogens, stimulants, inebriants and hypnotics.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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