Parasitic plant

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Parasitic plant

A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium

Haustorium

In botany, a haustorium is the hyphal tip of a parasitic fungus or of the root of a parasitic plant , that penetrates the host's tissue, but stays outside the host cell membrane....
, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem

Xylem

In vascular plants, xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue, phloem being the other. The word "xylem" is derived from classical Greek language ????? , "wood", and indeed the best known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout the plant....
, phloem

Phloem

In vascular plants, phloem is the living Biological tissue that carries organic nutrients , particularly sucrose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed....
, or both. Parasitic plants are characterized as follows:

For hemiparasites, one from each of the three sets of terms can be applied to the same species, e.g.

Holoparasites are always obligate so only two terms are needed, e.g.

Plants usually considered holoparasites include broomrape

Broomrape

Broomrape or Broom-rape is a genus of about 150 species of Parasite herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, mostly native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere....
, dodder

Cuscuta

Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the family Convolvulaceae....
, Rafflesia
Rafflesia

Rafflesia is a genus of parasite flowering plants. It was discovered in the Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, and named after Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition....
, and Hydnoraceae

Hydnoraceae

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Parasitic plant'

Start a new discussion about 'Parasitic plant'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plant

Flowering plant

Haustorium

Xylem

Phloem

1a. Obligate parasite – a parasite that cannot complete its life cycle without a host.
1b. Facultative parasite – a parasite that can complete its life cycle independent of a host.

2a. Stem parasite – a parasite that attaches to the host stem.
2b. Root parasite – a parasite that attaches to the host root.

3a. Holoparasite – a plant that is completely parasitic on other plants and has virtually no chlorophyll.
3b. Hemiparasite – a plant that is parasitic under natural conditions and is also photosynthetic to some degree. Hemiparasites may just obtain water and mineral nutrients from the host plant. Many obtain at least part of their organic nutrients from the host as well.

For hemiparasites, one from each of the three sets of terms can be applied to the same species, e.g.

Nuytsia floribunda is an obligate root hemiparasite.
Rhinanthus (Yellow rattle
Yellow rattle

Yellow Rattle or Cockscomb is a flowering plant in the genus Rhinanthus in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Europe and western Asia....
) is a facultative root hemiparasite.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for a group of parasitic plant plants in the Order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub....
is an obligate stem hemiparasite.

Holoparasites are always obligate so only two terms are needed, e.g.

Dodder is a stem holoparasite.
Hydnora spp. are root holoparasites.

Plants usually considered holoparasites include broomrape

Broomrape

Broomrape or Broom-rape is a genus of about 150 species of Parasite herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, mostly native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere....
, dodder

Cuscuta

Hydnoraceae

Hydnoraceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. This family has been recognised by most taxonomists.The APG II system, of 2003, also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Piperales in the clade magnoliids....
. Plants usually considered hemiparasites include Castilleja
Castilleja

Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of Annual plant and Perennial plant herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, as well as northeast Asia....
, mistletoe

Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for a group of parasitic plant plants in the Order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub....
, Western Australian Christmas tree

Western Australian Christmas tree

Nuytsia floribunda, commonly known as Western Australian Christmas tree, is a parasitic plant tree found in Western Australia. It is known for its bright yellow flowers around Christmas time ....
and yellow rattle

Yellow rattle

Yellow Rattle or Cockscomb is a flowering plant in the genus Rhinanthus in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Europe and western Asia....
.

Host range

Some parasitic plants are generalists and parasitize many different species, even several different species at once. Dodder (Cuscuta spp., Cassytha spp.) and red rattle (Odontites verna) are generalist parasites. Other parasitic plants are specialists that parasitize a few or even just one species. Beech drops (Epifagus virginiana) is a root holoparasite only on American Beech

American Beech

The Fagus grandifolia also known as American Beech is a species of beech native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States....
(Fagus grandifolia). Rafflesia
Rafflesia

Rafflesia is a genus of parasite flowering plants. It was discovered in the Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, and named after Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition....
is a holoparasite on the vine Tetrastigma.

Importance

Witchweed, broomrape and dodder cause huge economic losses in a variety of herbaceous crops. Mistletoes cause economic damage to forest and ornamental trees.
Rafflesia arnoldii
Rafflesia arnoldii

Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest organism on earth. It occurs only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago....
produces the world's largest flowers at about one meter in diameter. It is a tourist attraction in its native habitat.
Indian paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia
Castilleja

Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of Annual plant and Perennial plant herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, as well as northeast Asia....
) is the state flower of Wyoming.
The Oak Mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum
Phoradendron

Phoradendron is a genus of mistletoes, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the Santalum family, Santala...
) is the state flower of Oklahoma.
A few other parasitic plants are occasionally cultivated for their attractive flowers, such as Nutysia and broomrape.
Parasitic plants are important in research, especially on the loss of photosynthesis during evolution.
A few dozen parasitic plants have occasionally been used as food by people.
Western Australian Christmas tree (Nuytsia floribunda) sometimes damages underground cables. It mistakes the cables for host roots and tries to parasitize them using its sclerenchymatic guillotine

Plants parasitic on fungi

About 400 species of flowering plants and one gymnosperm

Gymnosperm

Gymnosperm is a group of spermatophyte seed-bearing plants with ovules on scales, which are usually arranged in cone-like structures. The other major group of seed-bearing plants, the angiosperms, [from the Greek, 'angion' - container] have ovules enclosed in a carpel, a sporophyll with fused margins....
(Parasitaxus usta
Parasitaxus

Parasitaxus usta is a rare species of conifer of the family Podocarpaceae, and the sole species of the genus Parasitaxus. It is a woody shrub up to 1.8 m found only in the remote, densely forested areas of New Caledonia, first discovered and described by Eug?ne Vieillard in 1861....
), are parasitic on mycorrhizal fungi. They are termed myco-heterotrophs

Myco-heterotrophy

Myco-heterotrophy is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis....
rather than parasitic plants. Some myco-heterotrophs are Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora
Monotropa uniflora

Monotropa uniflora, also known as the Ghost Plant, Indian Pipe, or Corpse Plant is a herbaceous perennial plant, formerly classified in the family Monotropaceae, but now included within the Ericaceae....
), snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), underground orchid (Rhizanthella gardneri
Rhizanthella gardneri

Rhizanthella gardneri, also known as Western Underground Orchid, was discovered in the spring of 1928 in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia....
), bird's nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) and sugarstick (Allotropa virgata
Allotropa virgata

Allotropa virgata is in the family Ericaceae and is the only species of the genus Allotropa. It is a perennial plant that gets its common names from the distinct white and red or maroon stripes along its erect peduncle....
).