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#monotropa uniflora
zegalba · 4 months
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monotropa uniflora (ghost plant)
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jckielantern · 10 months
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monotropa uniflora
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snototter · 4 months
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Ghost plants (Monotropa uniflora) growing in Stone Mountain, Georgia, USA
by Alan Cressler
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lailoken · 6 months
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The Mistreatment of a Sacred Plant
Recently, I had an unpleasant emotional and spiritual shock. I struggle a bit to talk about it because of how upset it makes me, but I feel like the subject matter is important enough to warrant the discussion.
As some may know, one of my dearest plant allies is the Ghost Pipe. I work closely with Monotropes in general, but the Tutelary Spirit of Monotropa Uniflora, in particular, serves as a chief Plant Patron of mine. Part of maintaining this relationship involves visiting a specific location in a devotional capacity, in order to watch, tend, and learn from the population of Ghost Pipes that grow there. I went back to this place not long ago, in order to thank the spectral flowers for lending their power and grace to our Handfasting Ritual, and I was horrified to discover that every one of the colonies I've stewarded over the last few years is completely gone.
They aren't a major food-source for any animals I know of, and this was way more than a die-back, since I recognize what that looks like. What's more, for every colony to have naturally vanished without a trace since the last time I visited was unthinkable. As such, I'm all but sure that someone "Wildcrafted" them to make tinctures for sale. This is absolutely heartbreaking and infuriating, as they have totally misused and abused this sacred plant, and damaged an extremely fragile and unique ecosystem in the process.
The main issue with harvesting Ghost Pipes isn't necessarily that it's rare, though it is in some areas. The real problems are how sensitive they are and how exacting their life cycle is. Sometimes, just touching a Ghost Pipe is enough to damage the plant, disrupt the re-seeding process, and prevent it from growing back. What's worse, the conditions required for the succesful development of these ethereal organisms are extremely specific. Monotropes are Mycoheterotrophs, which derive their energy through mychorizal parasitism. This is to say, they can only get their energy by siphoning it from a small range of subterranean fungi, who in turn, siphon their energy from the roots of certain trees. Between these and other factors, Monotropes are virtually impossible to cultivate or propagate, and they are especially susceptible to the effects of overharvesting. Unfortunately, unethical harvesting has steadily become a real problem in Western Herbalism, where Ghost Pipe tincture is growing in popularity for its mystique and its beautiful violet color. And while it does have a long history of traditional medicinal use as a Nervine, people who aren't getting it purely for its aesthetic qualities are buying it as a miracle cure, without any real understanding of how or why to use it.
I've been muddling through strong feelings of anger, sorrow, and impotence since this happened, and I feel sick thinking about someone out there irreverently peddling this precious medicine under a capitalist guise of "Herbal Wisdom." These sorts of business practices are thoughtless, ecologically unethical, and spiritually blasphemous (as far as I'm concerned). So, I beg you: please think thrice about what you are doing before you harvest a plant. Ask yourself these five questions, and weigh the answers against each other: "Why do I want to harvest this plant?' 'What harm will my behavior cause to this organism?' 'What harm will my behavior cause to this species?' 'What harm will my behavior cause to this ecosystem?' and, 'What will I suffer as a result of not harvesting this plant?
I offer up my most fervent prayers that the seeds I helped to spread earlier in the year will count for something.
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hexedfaerie · 5 months
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Ghost Pipe by Will Brown on Flickr.
This work is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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banji-effect · 7 months
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Ghost pipe!
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cursingcoyote · 3 months
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Ghost pipe. Monotropa uniflora. A non-photosynthetic and parasitic plant.
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lillysilvermoon · 5 months
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30 Days of Deity Devotion
1.A basic introduction of the Deity.
Thanatos is the personification of Blessed Death, the God of Death. His most famous myths are when he was sent to fetch Alkestis to the underworld and was driven off by Herakles in a fight. And the other one (and became my favorite but I'll explain this in other post) is when he was captured by Sisyphos who trapped him a sack to avoid death. In Greek vase painting he was depicted was a winged, bearded old man and, more rarely, as a beard less youth (he showed to me like the a young man, with the black wings, was like the first image that appeared in mediation was his wings).
He is Nyx's son (Hesiod Theogony 212, Homer Iliad).
Unfortunately there isn't much information about him, he wasn't very talked about in Greek Mythology and there is almost none information about him besides this (belive me I've been trying to find >anything< about him but I couldn't, I'll continue to try tho).
I'm participating in the Lunar Tarot (in my language it's Tarot Lunar) and every month is with a new deity, this time she decided would be to connect with out guardian - which I had no clue who it was, I did a card identification and was Thanatos and I was very shocked (never thought about him, I mean, I did but not to work with?) But yeah, definitely him ( why all of a sudden I'm working just with chtonic deities?? I mean, besides Selene everyone is from the underworld lmao).
I'll make a post about how I found it was him (because was actually so cool I couldn't sleep because I was so shocked and excited cs of HOW obvious it was that I lost my alarm)
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cryptic-science · 3 months
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ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) - september 2, 2023
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jadeseadragon · 3 months
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Julya Hajnoczky 📷 @obscuralucida
Ghost pipe flowers (Monotropa uniflora)
"They don’t photosynthesize, but rather get their nourishment by tapping into the mycorrhizal network..."
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zegalba · 15 days
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Monotropa Uniflora, also known as Ghost Plant, is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to temperate regions of Asia, North America, and northern South America
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webdiggerxxx · 9 months
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꧁★꧂
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aphermion · 8 months
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A little bit of pink
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lailoken · 10 months
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I came across an area rife with colonies of Ghost Pipe beginning to come up for the season, and while there, I found numerous patches of dried pods from last year's growth. Though their seeds were mostly spent, I collected stalks from multiple patches and proceeded to shake out any remaining seed powder they possessed in areas I know will support Monotropa growth. Thereafter, I put them aside for later devotional use.
If I'm lucky, maybe a tenth of what I sowed will take, but even that would be a lovely addition to their population.
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krtart · 8 months
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Art Fight 2023 | 12 - Outgrowth
An attack on Red for @vague-whisperings !
Nothing is really drawn to scale, but I pulled inspiration from these plants: ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora), black raspberry, cordyceps, ghoul fungus, cockscomb, & wolfsbane.
[Backup ID: An illustration of Red, who is a thin teen with long black hair, brown skin, and red eyes. He has a muted expression of fear and pain as he claws at his own bleeding wrist; thorned blackberry brambles are sprouting from it and wrapping around his hunched figure. Monotropa uniflora, a parasitic white flower, sprouts from his palm; the other plants and fungi mentioned above are growing from the tangles of brambles. The illustration is colored in quiet grays, reds, blacks, and whites. End ID.]
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