Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Ericaceae
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.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Monotropaceae
INCLUDING
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-04-001:
Monotropsis odorata +
FAMILY
Ericaceae
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.
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm0403k_35
March Oconee County SC
Oconee State Park
Easily overlooked, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_751
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmonotropsis_odorata
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monotropsis odorata
FAMILY
Monotropaceae
INCLUDING
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-04-001:
Monotropsis odorata +
FAMILY
Ericaceae
948
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Rare
Look for it in dry to mesic upland woods under oaks and/or pines (Pinus virginiana or P. echinata), esp slopes or bluffs with abundant heaths, often including Kalmia latifolia and/or Rhododendron maximum, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
LEAVES:
Simple
FLOWER:
Spring
Pinkish/ Purplish-brown
Bisexual
5 sepals
5 petals
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p162
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p378
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p061
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p100
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p129
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p120