Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys) is a goofy little plant that parasitizes fungi and can often be found beneath pine trees. It is not the sap of pine trees like Daniel thought. In this episode, Bill leads the discussion about the complex relationships between pinesap, its fungal host, and the tree species the fungi has a symbiosis with. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) also makes a guest appearance! Join the guys as they get caught in a sudden rainstorm and learn about this amazing plant.
This episode was recorded on July 14, 2024 at Chestnut Ridge County Park in Orchard Park, NY.
Episode Notes
Bill brought up whether or not Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys) should be in it’s own genus, Hypopitys. Steve asked some overly complicated questions to clarify whether or not he should believe it. With a quick search, at least Braukmann et al. (2017), Liu (2020), Shen et al. (2020), and Freudenstein & Broe (2024) found that Hypopitys groups distinctly from Monotropa in its phylogeny (i.e., evolutionary history). Hypopitys is more closely related to other genera, such as Pityopus, for example, than other species in the genus Monotropa. Steve is satisfied with this quick dip into the lit.
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Works Cited
Beatty, G.E. and Provan, J., 2011. Phylogeographic analysis of North American populations of the parasitic herbaceous plant Monotropa hypopitys L. reveals a complex history of range expansion from multiple late glacial refugia. Journal of Biogeography, 38(8), pp.1585-1599.
Bluhm, W.L., 2007. The Ericaceae of the Pacific Northwest, Part V.
Braukmann, T.W., Broe, M.B., Stefanović, S. and Freudenstein, J.V., 2017. On the brink: the highly reduced plastomes of nonphotosynthetic Ericaceae. New Phytologist, 216(1), pp.254-266.
Candeias, M. An Aromatic Parasite, www.indefenseofplants.com, 9 July, 2015. https://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/tag/Pinesap#:~:text=Pinesap%20falls%20under%20the%20category,associate%20fungi%20are%20rather%20specific. Accessed July 6, 2024.
Cipollini, D., 2016. A review of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) as an allelopathic plant. The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 143(4), pp.339-348.
Freudenstein, J.V. and Broe, M.B., 2024. Phylogenetic Relationships within Monotropoideae (Ericaceae): Implications for Taxonomy and Character Evolution. Systematic Botany.
Klooster, M.R., 2008. Reproductive ecology and population genetics of myco-heterotrophic plant species in the Monotropoideae (Ericaceae) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati).
Klooster, M.R. and Culley, T.M., 2010. Population genetic structure of the mycoheterotroph Monotropa hypopitys L.(Ericaceae) and differentiation between red and yellow color forms. International journal of plant sciences, 171(2), pp.167-174.
Leake, J.R., McKendrick, S.L., Bidartondo, M. and Read, D.J., 2004. Symbiotic germination and development of the myco‐heterotroph Monotropa hypopitys in nature and its requirement for locally distributed Tricholoma spp. New Phytologist, 163(2), pp.405-423.
Liu, X., Liao, X., Chen, D., Zheng, Y., Yu, X., Xu, X., Liu, Z. and Lan, S., 2020. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Monotropa uniflora (Ericaceae). Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 5(3), pp.3168-3169.
Martine, C.T. and Hale, A.N., 2015. Parasitism disruption a likely consequence of belowground war waged by exotic plant invader. American Journal of Botany, 102(3).
Roche, M.D., Pearse, I.S., Bialic‐Murphy, L., Kivlin, S.N., Sofaer, H.R. and Kalisz, S., 2021. Negative effects of an allelopathic invader on AM fungal plant species drive community‐level responses. Ecology, 102(1), p.e03201.
Shen, J., Li, X., Zhu, X., Huang, X. and Jin, S., 2020. The complete plastid genome of Rhododendron pulchrum and comparative genetic analysis of Ericaceae species. Forests, 11(2), p.158.
US Forest Service. Monotropa hypopitys – Pinesap, Dutchman’s Pipe, fs.usda.gov, https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/mycotrophic/monotropa_hypopitys.shtml. Accessed May 23, 2024
Photo Credit
Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for this episode.