# Monotropsis

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Monotropsis
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Monotropsis.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotropsis
> Source revision: 1345298426
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Monotropsis*** is a small [genus](/source/Genus) of just two flowering plants in the family [Ericaceae](/source/Ericaceae), *[Monotropsis odorata](/source/Monotropsis_odorata)* and *[Monotropsis reynoldsiae](/source/Monotropsis_reynoldsiae)*. They are native to the southeastern United States.

Like all members of the subfamily called the [monotropes](/source/Monotropes), the species in *Monotropsis* do not contain [chlorophyll](/source/Chlorophyll). They are [myco-heterotrophs](/source/Myco-heterotroph), getting its food through parasitism upon fungi rather than photosynthesis. These fungi form a [mycorrhiza](/source/Mycorrhiza) with nearby tree species.

## Description

*Monotropsis* are small [herbaceous](/source/Herbaceous) plants without leaves. They can grow as colonies or as a single plant in the ground.[1] They spread by [rhizomes](/source/Rhizome), ground adapted stems, that are wiry and somewhat fleshy when young and become brittle when older.[2] The roots are [adventitious](/source/Adventitious), growing from nodes on the rhizomes, and are purple when old and mostly white when young. They are heavily covered in mats of fungal [mycelia](/source/Mycelia). Small whitish buds covered in [imbricate](/source/Imbricate) scales, ones that overlap with each other, develop at intervals on the roots. These develop into the [inflorescences](/source/Inflorescence) and when mature are much thicker and quite different from the roots.[3]

The inflorescence is a [raceme](/source/Raceme), an unbranched group of flowers that can grow indeterminately, with a stem that can be deep purple to maroon in color. Each one will have two to sixteen nodding flowers. Each flower will usually have five [sepals](/source/Sepal) that are tan and paper-like. The petals are united into a [corolla](/source/Petal) with five lobes and each flower has ten [stamens](/source/Stamen).[3]

## Taxonomy

*Monotropsis* was scientifically described and named by the botanist [Stephen Elliott](/source/Stephen_Elliott_(botanist)) in 1817 who attributed his description to [Lewis David de Schweinitz](/source/Lewis_David_de_Schweinitz).[4] It is classified as part of the subfamily [Monotropoideae](/source/Monotropoideae) within the family [Ericaceae](/source/Ericaceae).[5] When the [Flora of North America](/source/Flora_of_North_America) volume 8 was published in 2009 Gary D. Wallace described the genus as containing one species.[6] In 2014 Jeffrey P. Rose and John V. Freudenstein concluded on the basis of DNA evidence that it was actually two distinct species.[7] The two accepted species are *Monotropsis odorata* and *Monotropsis reynoldsiae*.[8]

## Range

The species of *Monotropsis* are native to ten states in the southeast of the United States; Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.[8]

## References

### Citations

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, p. 586.

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, pp. 586–587.

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, p. 587.

1. Elliott 1821, p. 478.

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, p. 578.

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, pp. 578, 592.

1. Rose & Freudenstein 2014, pp. 581–582.

1. POWO 2025.

### Sources

**Books**

- Elliott, Stephen (1821). [*A Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia*](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26098056). Vol. 1. First ed. Charleston, South Carolina: J.R. Schenck. [OCLC 367910286](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/367910286). Retrieved 20 September 2025.

**Journals**

- Rose, Jeffrey P. & Freudenstein, John V. (1 June 2014). "Cryptic and Overlooked: Species Delimitation in the Mycoheterotrophic *Monotropsis* (Ericaceae: Monotropoideae)". *Systematic Botany*. **39** (2): 578–593. [doi:10.1600/036364414X680762](https://doi.org/10.1600/036364414X680762). [ISSN 0363-6445](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0363-6445). [JSTOR 24546165](https://www.jstor.org/stable/24546165)

**Web sources**

- POWO (2025). "*Monotropsis* Schwein. ex Elliott". 30136063-2. Retrieved 20 September 2025.

## External links

- [US Forest Service, *Thieves from the Heath - Mycotrophic Wildflowers*: *Monotropsis odorata* – Sweet Pinesap](http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/mycotrophic/monotropsis_odorata.shtml)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Monotropsis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotropsis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotropsis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.