A mycotroph is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

that gets all or part of its carbon, water, or nutrient supply through

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

association with

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. The term can refer to plants that engage in either of two distinct symbioses with fungi: *Many mycotrophs have a mutualistic association with fungi in any of several forms of

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...

. The majority of plant species are mycotrophic in this sense. Examples include

Burmanniaceae Burmanniaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, consisting of 99 species of herbaceous plants in eight genera. Description These plants are annual or perennial herbs, with generally unbranched stems, some lacking leaves. Some m ...

. *Some mycotrophs are parasitic upon fungi in an association known as

myco-heterotrophy Myco-heterotrophy (from Ancient Greek, Greek μύκης , "fungus", ἕτερος ', "another", "different" and τροφή ', "nutrition") is a symbiosis, symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets a ...

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Fungus Flowers
{{modelling ecosystems Trophic ecology Mycology Symbiosis Parasites of fungi Parasitic plants Plant nutrition