Monotropa

{{Short description|Genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Ericaceae}}

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{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Pinesap-mthood-august2005.JPG

| image_caption = Monotropa hypopitys

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Monotropa

| authority = L.

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• Monotropa brittonii {{small|Small}}
• Monotropa coccinea {{small|Zucc.}}
• Monotropa hypopitys {{small|L.}}
• Monotropa uniflora {{small|L.}}

|subdivision_ref = {{cite web |title=Monotropa L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:329943-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=22 March 2025}}

| synonyms =

• Hypopitys {{small|Hill, nom. superfl.}}
• Monotropion {{small|St.-Lag., orth. var.}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Monotropa is a genus of four species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants. The genus was formerly classified in the family Monotropaceae and presently classified in Ericaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and are generally rare. Unlike most plants they do not have chlorophyll and therefore are non-photosynthetic; rather, they are myco-heterotrophs that obtain food through parasitism on subterranean fungi. Because they do not need any sunlight to live, they can live in very dark sites such as the floor of deep forest. The name "Monotropa" is Greek for "one turn" as every plant has one large turn near the top of the plant.