''Tozzia'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

of flowering plants within the broomrape family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of the order (biology), order Lamiales, with about 90 genus, genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ...

. It contains a unique

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, ''Tozzia alpina''. While the plant in its young, vegetative stage is holoparasite, it becomes hemiparasite in its flowering stage. The originality of this species is therefore to combine half and full

parasitism Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

. The range of ''Tozzia alpina'' extends from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Balkans and the Carpathians.

Description

Vegetative features

''Tozzia alpina'' is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plant, reaching heights of . The quadrangular stem is hairless in the lower part, hairy on the edges in the middle and upper part. The simple, bright green leaves are broad, ovate, serrate, with a length of 1 to 3.5 centimeters, a rounded or slightly heart-shaped basis, and a sharp upper end.

Reproductive features

The flowering period is from June to August. The hermaphroditic zygomorph flowers are organized into a

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

inflorescence. The

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s have a 3 to 10 millimeters long, thin, one-sided hairy stalk. The fruit is spherical with a diameter of 2 to 2.5 millimeters. The seeds are almost spherical, smooth and white with a round black spot.

Systematics

The genus name ''Tozzia'' was given in 1729 by

Pier Antonio Micheli Pier Antonio Micheli (11 December 1679 – 1 January 1737) was a noted Italian botanist, professor of botany in Pisa, curator of the Orto Botanico di Firenze, author of ''Nova plantarum genera iuxta Tournefortii methodum disposita''. He discover ...

. It is a taxonomic patronym in honor of Bruno Tozzi, a monk and later abbot of the monastery Vallombrosa at

Reggello Reggello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence, between the north-western side of Pratomagno and the Upper Valdarno. The municipality borders ...

in Tuscany, who published in 1703 a work about Tuscan plant species. The first description of the species ''Tozzia alpina'' was made in 1753 by

Carl von Linné Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organi ...

. Two subspecies have been described: * ''Tozzia alpina'' L. subsp. ''alpina'', occurring in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and former Yugoslavia ; * ''Tozzia alpina'' subsp. ''carpathica'' (Wolł.) Pawlł. (Syn: ''Tozzia carpathica'' Wolł.), occurring in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine.

Phylogeny

The phylogeny of the genera of

Rhinantheae Rhinantheae is a tribe with fewer than 20 genera of herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Phylogeny The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using DNA markers. Three assemblages can be distinguished in this trib ...

has been explored using molecular characters. ''Tozzia'' belongs to the core Rhinantheae. ''Tozzia'' is closely related to '' Odontites'', '' Bellardia'', and ''

Hedbergia ''Hedbergia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants, initially classified in Scrophulariaceae, and now within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a unique species, ''Hedbergia abyssinica''. It is an afromontane genus, widesprea ...

''. In turn, these genera share phylogenetic affinities with ''

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 215 species of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are P ...

'', and then with ''

Bartsia ''Bartsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Etymology ''Bartsia'' was named after Johann Bartsch (Latinized as Johannes Bartsius, 1709-1738), a botanist of Königsberg. The plant was named for him by his associate ...

''.

Ecology

''Tozzia alpina'' is a geophyte. In the first year of its growth, ''Tozzia'' feeds as holoparasite on large-leaved herbaceous plants, such as species of the genera ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...

'', '' Adenostyles'' and '' Petasites''. As of the second year, it becomes a hemiparasite with its own assimilation, but still receives nutrients from the host plant. It thrives at altitudes of 800 to 2600 meters. In the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located on the Austria–Germany border, which covers parts of the Germany, German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the Austrian states of Tyrol (state), Tyrol an ...

it rises at the Linkerskopf in Bavaria up to an altitude of 2200 meters. It also prefers lime-rich and nutrient-rich, wet-fresh to moist

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s, with northern exposures.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9089313, from2=Q159988 Orobanchaceae genera Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Monotypic Lamiales genera Parasitic plants