''Pilostyles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family
Apodanthaceae
The family Apodanthaceae comprises about 10 species of endoparasitic herbs. They live in the branches or stems of their hosts (as filaments similar to a fungal mycelium), emerging only to flower and fruit. The plants produce no green parts and do ...
. It includes about 11 species of very small,
completely parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...
s that live inside the stems of woody
legumes
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...
.
Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as stemsuckers.
The plants completely lack stems, roots, leaves, and
chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...
. While not flowering, they do not resemble most plants, living entirely inside the host as "
..a
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 substrate (biology), substrates. A typical single ...
-like endophyte formed by strands of
parenchyma
Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ or structure such as a tumour. In zoology it is the name for the tissue that fills the interior of flatworms.
Etymology
The term ''parenchyma'' is New Latin from the word π ...
cells that are in close contact to the host
vasculature
The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...
". Their presence is only noticeable when the flowers emerge out of the stems of the host plant.
''Pilostyles'' is
dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...
, with separate male and female plants. Male and female plants are not commonly known to inhabit the same host.
Flowers are two or three millimeters wide and in some species each female flower can produce over 100 seeds, which are less than 1mm long.
[Armstrong, W]
Southern California's Most Unusual Wildflower
/ref> 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 end ...
, and was re-classified after new DNA evidence
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Pilostyles''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6075951
Apodanthaceae
Parasitic plants
Cucurbitales genera
Dioecious plants