Indian Pipe

Today I was speaking with my mom on the phone while I was walking through the woods.  It may not seem like I'm fully embracing the solitude of the forest if I talk on the phone while I traipse through the wooded paths, but since I am so far away from her, it's actually the perfect place to talk with her.  We were discussing the oil spill and related deep thoughts of the children in her fourth grade class, when suddenly I looked down to see...Indian Pipe!

I am not sure that I have ever seen it before, but I have read that it is really rare and needs to parasitize a fungus for its nutrients, because it doesn't produce its own chlorophyll.  It is a beautiful plant! Go symbiotic organisms go!