''Voyria'', commonly known as ghostplants, is a genus of 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, belonging to the family Gentianaceae. They are mostly native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Caribbean, Central America and South America, except for ''Voyria primuloides, V. primuloides'', which is found in West and Central Africa. Voyria parasitica, ''V. parasitica'' reaches as far north as the Everglades in Florida.
Unlike most plants, they do not contain chlorophyll; they are myco-heterotrophs, getting their food through parasitism upon fungi rather than photosynthesis. Their roots are thick and densely clustered, forming a "birds nest" that house their fungus host. Depending on the species, the flowers can be single or held in corymbs of many individual flowers. The stems are usually pallid, with reduced scale-like foliage. The flowers can vary in colour, with white or yellow predominating, and blue and pink also occurring. Like all myco-heterotrophs, they are capable of living in very dark conditions, such as the floor of deep forests, because they no longer derive energy from sunlight.
''Voyria'' is subdivided into two subgenera, ''Voyria'' and ''Leiphaimos''. The latter, which contains a majority of the species, is characterized by highly reduced features, lacking both stomates and a continuous Vessel element, vascular cylinder. The lack of Chloroplast DNA, chloroplast genes has caused some difficulty in better understanding its relationships within the family. Seeds are dispersed by wind.
Species list
*''Voyria acuminata''
Benth. - Venezuela, Brazil
*''Voyria alvesiana''
E.F.Guim., T.S.Mendes & N.G.Silva - Pará
*''Voyria aphylla''
(Jacq.) Pers. - Caribbean, Mexico to Brazil
*''Voyria aurantiaca''
Splitg. - Lesser Antilles, Panama to Brazil
*''Voyria caerulea''
Aubl. - Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil
*''Voyria chionea''
Benth. - Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil
*''Voyria clavata''
Splitg. - Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil
*''Voyria corymbosa''
Splitg. - Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil
*''Voyria crucitasensis''
Y.Guillén & G.Vargas - N Costa Rica
*''Voyria flavescens''
Griseb. - Mexico to Brazil, Trinidad
*''Voyria kupperi''
(Suess.) Ruyters & Maas - Costa Rica, Panama
*''Voyria obconica''
Progel - Atlantic Forest of Brazil
*''Voyria parasitica''
(Schltdl. & Cham.) Ruyters & Maas - Central America, Caribbean, S Florida
*''Voyria primuloides''
Baker - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo Republic
*''Voyria pulcherrima''
(Standl.) L.O.Williams - Panama
*''Voyria rosea''
Aubl. - Venezuela and the Guianas
*''Voyria spruceana''
Benth. - Costa Rica to Brazil
*''Voyria tenella''
Guilding ex Hook. - Caribbean, Mexico to Brazil
*''Voyria tenuiflora''
Griseb. - Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil
*''Voyria truncata''
(Standl.) Standl. & Steyerm. - Chiapas to Colombia
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6799774
Gentianaceae
Parasitic plants
Flora of North America
Gentianaceae genera
Flora of South America
Flora of Africa
Flora of the Caribbean
Flora of Mexico
Flora of Central America