Monotropa
| Monotropa | ||||||||||||
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Spruce asparagus ( Monotropa hypopitys ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Monotropa | ||||||||||||
| L. |
Monotropa is a genus of the spruce asparagus family (Monotropaceae), which together with the wintergreen family (Pyrolaceae)belong to the heather family (Ericaceae)as a subfamily Monotropoideae . It contains the species
- Monotropa hypopitys L. ( spruce asparagus ) and
- Monotropa uniflora L. (Indian pipe, Ghost plant)
Both are distributed over the cool, temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, with M. uniflora absent in Europe. As the botanical name suggests, in contrast to M. hypopitys , this species is always single-flowered.
The plants do not contain any leaf green , but rather parasitize on their root fungi (myco heterotrophy ). Since these simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with trees, woody plants are the source of the carbon compounds transferred to the monotropa plants via the common hyphae network . This extremely specialized diet is known as epiparasitism . It enables the individuals of the Monotropa species to occur in extremely low-light locations. The typical growth locations are accordingly in damp, shady forests.
swell
- Entry in the Flora of China. (engl.)
