The Balanophoraceae are a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of obligate parasitic

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 t ...

s, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscure affinities. In the broadest circumscription, the family consists of 16 genera. Alternatively, three genera may be split off into the segregate family Mystropetalaceae. The plants are normally found in moist inland forests growing on tree roots and have an above ground

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are forme ...

with the overall appearance of a fungus, composed of numerous minute flowers. The inflorescences develop inside the tuberous underground part of the plant, before rupturing it and surfacing. The plants are monoecious, or dioecious, and the fruits are indehiscent drupes or nuts. The underground portion, which attaches itself to the host, looks like a tuber, and is not a proper root system. The plants contain no

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 ...

. ''Balanophora'' means "bearing an acorn" (from the shape of the female inflorescence).

Taxonomy

In the classification system of Dahlgren, the Balanophoraceae were placed in the order Balanophorales in the

superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Balanophoriflorae (also called Balanophoranae). The

APG IV system The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was published ...

of 2016 (unchanged from the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fu ...

of 2009), also recognizes this family, including it in the order Santalales, where it was also placed by the

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) ...

(1981). A 2015

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

suggested that as circumscribed in the APG IV system, Balanophoraceae is not monophyletic. The authors of the study proposed dividing Balanophoraceae '' s.l.'' into Balanophoraceae ''

s.s. The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

'' and the family Mystropetalaceae, containing three monotypic genera, '' Dactylanthus'', ''

Hachettea ''Hachettea austrocaledonica'' is a species of parasitic plant in the Balanophoraceae The Balanophoraceae are a subtropical to tropical family of obligate parasitic flowering plants, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscure ...

'' and ''

Mystropetalon ''Mystropetalon'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Balanophoraceae The Balanophoraceae are a subtropical to tropical family of obligate parasitic flowering plants, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscu ...

''. The cladogram below shows the relationships obtained (using the broad APG IV circumscriptions of Olacaceae and Santalaceae).

Genera

, the broadly circumscribed family was accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

, which included the following genera. Other sources place three of the genera in the segregate family Mystropetalaceae. * ''

Balanophora ''Balanophora'' is a genus of parasitic plants in the family Balanophoraceae found in parts of tropical and temperate Asia, including the Eastern Himalayas, Malesia region, Pacific Islands, Madagascar, and tropical Africa. There are about 20 ...

'' * ''

Chlamydophytum ''Chlamydophytum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Balanophoraceae The Balanophoraceae are a subtropical to tropical family of obligate parasitic flowering plants, notable for their unusual development and formerly obs ...

'' * '' Corynaea'' * '' Dactylanthus'' ystropetalaceae* '' Ditepalanthus'' * ''

'' ystropetalaceae* '' Helosis'' * '' Langsdorffia'' * '' Lathrophytum'' * '' Lophophytum'' * ''

'' ystropetalaceae* '' Ombrophytum'' * '' Rhopalocnemis'' * '' Sarcophyte'' * '' Scybalium'' * ''

Thonningia ''Thonningia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Balanophoraceae containing the single species ''Thonningia sanguinea''.Nickrent, DParasitic Plant Classification.The Parasitic Plant Connection. Department of Plant Biology, S ...

References

External links

* *
Balanophoraceae at Parasitic plants

{{Authority control Eudicot families