Cytinaceae is a family of

parasitic 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 has c ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s. It comprises two genera, ''

Cytinus ''Cytinus'' is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. Species in this genus do not produce chlorophyll, but rely fully on its host plant. ''Cytinus'' usually parasitizes ''Cistus'' and '' Halimium'', two genera of plants in the family Cistaceae. ...

'' and ''

Bdallophytum ''Bdallophytum'' is a genus of parasitic flowering plants with five described species. It parasitizes on the roots of plants of the genus ''Bursera'', such as ''Bursera simaruba''. The genus is endemic to the Neotropics.Parasiticplants.siu.eduCyt ...

'', totalling ten species. These two genera were formerly placed in the family

Rafflesiaceae The Rafflesiaceae are a family of rare parasitic plants comprising 36 species in 3 genera found in the tropical forests of east and southeast Asia, including ''Rafflesia arnoldii'', which has the largest flowers of all plants. The plants are en ...

, order

Malpighiales The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 36 families and more than species, about 7.8% of the eudicots. The order is very diverse, containing plants as different as the willow, violet, poinsett ...

. When they were separated into a new family, it was initially placed in

, but it has since been recognised as belonging to order

Malvales The Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within 9 families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots. The plants are mostly shrubs and ...

References

External links

Parasitic Plant Connection: Cytinaceae
Parasitic plants Malvales families {{Malvales-stub