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Pilostyles
''Pilostyles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apodanthaceae. It includes about 11 species of very small, completely parasitic plants that live inside the stems of woody legumes. Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as stemsuckers. The plants completely lack stems, roots, leaves, and chlorophyll. While not flowering, they do not resemble most plants, living entirely inside the host as " ..a mycelium-like endophyte formed by strands of parenchyma cells that are in close contact to the host vasculature". Their presence is only noticeable when the flowers emerge out of the stems of the host plant. ''Pilostyles'' is dioecious, 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, WSouthern California's Most Unusual Wildflower/ref> Species are found in seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilostyles Thurberi
''Pilostyles thurberi'' is a species of endoparasitic flowering plant known by the common names Thurber's stemsucker and Thurber's pilostyles. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in desert and woodland. In the United States, ''P. thurberi'' has been recorded from the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas. Description It is a tiny parasitic plant, only a few millimeters long, which lives in the stem tissues of its host plants, species of legume shrubs, often of genus ''Psorothamnus'', especially Emory's indigo bush or dyebush (''Psorothamnus emoryi''). It has no roots, leaves, or chlorophyll, obtaining its water and nutrients from the host.Armstrong, WSouthern California's Most Unusual Wildflower/ref> It grows as microscopic strands similar to fungal filaments completely within the stems of its host, until when it blooms, sending tiny flowers through the surface of the host plant. It is a dioecious species, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |