The Balanophoraceae are a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of obligate parasitic

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscure affinities. In the broadest

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

, the family consists of 16 genera. Alternatively, three genera may be split off into the segregate family Mystropetalaceae. The plants are normally found growing on tree roots in moist inland forests and have an above ground

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

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 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 allows plants to absorb energy ...

. ''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 () 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 recognized ...

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 publish ...

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 f ...

of 2009), also recognizes this family, including it in the order

Santalales The Santalales are an order (biology), order of flowering plants in the dicotyledons. Well-known members of the Santalales include Santalum, sandalwoods and the many species of mistletoes. The order has a cosmopolitan distribution, but is heavily ...

, where it was also placed by the

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a list of systems of plant taxonomy, taxonomic classification system of angiosperms, flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of ...

(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 geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

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 stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It bega ...

'' and the family Mystropetalaceae, containing three monotypic genera, '' Dactylanthus'', '' Hachettea'' 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 obs ...

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

Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the circumscription of the family varies; some sources maintain a broad family, others split it int ...

and

Santalaceae The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants (including small trees, shrubs, perennial plants, perennial herbs, and epiphyte, epiphytic climbersHewson & George t al.'Santalaceae'' taxonomy, 1984, pp. 191-1 ...

Genera

, the broadly circumscribed family was accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

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

Balanophora ''Balanophora'' is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Balanophoraceae distributed from tropical Africa and Madagascar, through South and Southeast Asia, Japan, Queensland and the islands of the western Pacific. There are 25 acc ...

'' * ''

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 ob ...

'' * '' Corynaea'' * '' Dactylanthus'' ystropetalaceae* '' Ditepalanthus'' * '' Hachettea'' ystropetalaceae* '' Helosis'' * '' Langsdorffia'' * '' Lathrophytum'' * '' Lophophytum'' * ''

'' ystropetalaceae* ''

Ombrophytum ''Ombrophytum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Balanophoraceae. Its native range is Southern Tropical America. Species Species: *''Ombrophytum chilensis'' *''Ombrophytum guayanense'' *''Ombrophytum microlepis'' *''Om ...

'' * '' Rhopalocnemis'' * ''

Sarcophyte ''Sarcophyte'' is a genus of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; ' ...

'' * '' Scybalium'' * '' Thonningia''

References

External links

* *
Balanophoraceae at Parasitic plants

{{Authority control Eudicot families