Monotropa hypopithys (pinesap) of the Monotropaceae family. This individual was actually photographed in Newberry Nat'l Volcanic Monument just south of Bend, OR. The range of the species extends from BC to California all across the US. This plant is an example of a myco-heterotroph. Myco-heterotrophs lack chlorophyll and the ability to photosynthesize and rather, the plant derives carbohydrates through a parasitic relationship with certain kinds of fungi. The connection between the two occurs through the roots of the plant and the mycelium of the fungus. The WTU herbarium has "placentation axile rather than parietal" listed as a distinguishing characterisitic. Parietal placentation = ovules attached to the walls of the ovary. Axile placentation = ovules attached to the central axis of an ovary with two or more locules. Locules = the chamber or cavity ("cell") of an organ, as in the cell of an ovary containing the seed.
