Woodblock Prints
Monotropa Uniflora
Also known as Ghost Pipes or Indian Pipes, this summer blooming plant native to the Americas and Asia is achlorophyllous, meaning it completely lacks the green pigment necessary to perform photosynthesis. As a mycoheterotrophic parasitic plant, it steals nutrients from fungal colonies growing on the roots of pine and oak trees. Some people, when seeing it for the first time, think that it is a type of fungus. Maybe there is some truth to the old adage; "you are what you eat".
For some they have come to represent "the thin veil" between life and death, and spaces where boundaries blur. Due to their ability to grow in dark places they symbolize resilience, perseverance in times of grief or after witnessing tragedy, and community support.