Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Ericaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Monotropsis odorata (Pygmypipes, Sweet pinesap), in Devils Fork State Park, Oconee County, South Carolina by Jim Fowler.
Read more about Pygmy Pipes from Linda Chafin, Alan Weakley, and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
As with its cousins in the genera Monotropa and Hypopitys, it is also saprophytic and lacks chlorophyll. This tiny species is often covered by fallen leaves and can thus be hard to spot, but it has a distinctive fragrance... Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The distinctive pale purple petals are united into a bell-shaped tube. Read more at the Botanical Society of America.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Monotropaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Monotropsis odorata
INCLUDING VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-04-001:
Monotropsis odorata var. odorata FAMILY Ericaceae
INCLUDING Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968)
Monotropsis odorata var. lehmaniae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monotropsis lehmaniae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monotropsis odorata
COMMON NAME:
Appalachian Pygmy Pipes, Sweet Pinesap
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mood2_001_lvd
)
Diane Creaton dmc01349
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
The flowers' odor variously compared to cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon & violets, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm0403k_24
March Oconee County SC
Oconee State Park
Numerous fragrant purplish flowers barely extend past stem's brown scales, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
Indian Pipes, Pinesap and Pygmy Pipes
)
JK Marlow jkm0403k_32
March Oconee County SC
Oconee State Park
A superior ovary with capitate [head-like] stigma, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0403k_35
March Oconee County SC
Oconee State Park
Easily overlooked, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_odorata_1802
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_odorata_1812
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
)
JK Marlow s040321_a
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
The stems have many light brown overlapping scales in place of leaves, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_751
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmonotropsis_odorata
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Ericaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Monotropaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Monotropsis odorata
INCLUDING
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-04-001:
Monotropsis odorata var. odorata
FAMILY
Ericaceae
INCLUDING
Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968)
Monotropsis odorata var. lehmaniae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monotropsis lehmaniae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monotropsis odorata
948
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry to mesic upland woods under oaks and/or pines (Pinus virginiana or P. echinata), especially slopes or bluffs with abundant heaths, often including Kalmia latifolia and/or Rhododendron maximum, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Pinkish/ Purplish-brown
5 sepals
5 petals
10 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p162
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p190
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p229
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p378
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p061
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p168
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p100
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p129
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p120
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