The family Apodanthaceae comprises about 10 species
of
endoparasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
herbs
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
. They live in the branches or stems of their hosts (as filaments similar to a fungal
mycelium
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates in ...
), emerging only to flower and fruit. The plants produce no green parts and do not carry out any photosynthesis (that is, they are
holoparasitic). There are two genera: ''
Pilostyles'' and ''
Apodanthes''.
[Albert Blarer, Daniel L. Nickrent, and Peter K. Endress. 2004. "Comparative floral structure and systematics in Apodanthaceae (Rafflesiales)". ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 245(1-2):119-142.] A third genus, ''Berlinianche'', was never validly published.
[Bellot, S., and S. S. Renner. 2013. "Pollination and mating systems of Apodanthaceae and the distribution of reproductive traits in parasitic angiosperms". "American Journal of Botany" 100(6): 1083–1094.] Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences confidently place the Apodanthaceae in the Cucurbitales, where they also fit well in terms of their flower morphology.
[Filipowicz, N., and S. S. Renner. 2010. "The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees." ''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 10:219.]
External links
Parasitic Plant Connection: Apodanthaceae
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134410
Parasitic plants
Rosid families