Monotropsis odorata, also known as sweet pinesap or pygmy pipes is a member of the subfamily Monotropoidiae of the blueberry family, the Ericaceae

Ericaceae

The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...

. It was formerly placed in the Monotropaceae

Monotropaceae

Monotropaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included 10 genera Allotropa, Cheilotheca, Hemitomes, Monotropa, Monotropastrum, Monotropsis, Pityopus, Pleuricospora, Pterospora, Sarcodes....

 or Pyrolaceae. It is native to the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

 in the southeastern United States, and is viewed as being uncommon throughout its range.

Like all members of the subfamily, Monotropsis odorata does not contain chlorophyll

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in almost all plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek words χλωρος, chloros and φύλλον, phyllon . Chlorophyll is an extremely important biomolecule, critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light...

; it is a myco-heterotroph, getting its food through parasitism upon fungi rather than photosynthesis. These fungi form a mycorrhiza

Mycorrhiza

A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....

with nearby tree species.