Biology: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.[1][2] Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as stemsuckers.[3]
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".[4] Their presence is only noticeable when the flowers emerge out of the stems of the host plant.[2]
Pilostyles is dioecious, with separate male and female plants.[5] Male and female plants are not commonly known to inhabit the same host.[6] Flowers are two or three millimeters wide and in some species each female flower can produce over 100 seeds, which are less than 1 mm (0.04 in) long.[7][6] These seeds contain embryos composed of just eight cells, the smallest dicot embryo presently known.[8]
Species are found in several countries, with a discontinuous distribution. Species have been found in most of South America and tropical Africa, and also in Australia, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Syria, Turkey, and the United States.[1][9]
Species include:[1]
- Pilostyles aethiopica Welw.
- Pilostyles berteroi Guill.
- Pilostyles blanchetii (Gardner) R.Br.
- Pilostyles boyacensis F.Gonzáles & Pabón-Mora
- Pilostyles coccoidea K.R.Thiele
- Pilostyles collina Dell
- Pilostyles hamiltonii C.A.Gardner
- Pilostyles haussknechtii Boiss.
- Pilostyles maya P.Ortega, Gonz.-Martínez & S.Vásquez
- Pilostyles mexicana (Brandegee) Rose
- Pilostyles thurberi A.Gray
The genus was formerly considered a member of Rafflesiaceae, and was re-classified after new DNA evidence.[10][9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Pilostyles Guill. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science" (in en). http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:14131-1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gomes, André Luis; Fernandes, G. Wilson (1994-09-01). "Influence of Parasitism by Pilostyles ingae (Rafflesiaceae) on its Host Plant, Mimosa naguirei (Leguminosae)". Annals of Botany 74 (3): 205–208. doi:10.1006/anbo.1994.1110. https://academic.oup.com/aob/article-abstract/74/3/205/2587326.
- ↑ USDA Plants Profile: Pilostyles
- ↑ González, Angie D.; Pabón-Mora, Natalia; Alzate, Juan F.; González, Favio (2020). "Meristem Genes in the Highly Reduced Endoparasitic Pilostyles boyacensis (Apodanthaceae)". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8. doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00209. ISSN 2296-701X.
- ↑ Fernandes, G. W.; De Mattos, E. A.; Franco, A. C.; Lüttge, U.; Ziegler, H. (1998). "Influence of the Parasite Pilostyles ingae (Rafflesiaceae) on some Physiological Parameters of the Host Plant, Mimosa naguirei (Mimosaceae)". Botanica Acta 111: 51–54. doi:10.1111/j.1438-8677.1998.tb00676.x.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 McComb, Jen (2018-08-13). "The mysterious Pilostyles is a plant within a plant" (in en). https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/articles/the-mysterious-pilostyles-is-a-plant-within-a-plant.
- ↑ Armstrong, W. Southern California's Most Unusual Wildflower
- ↑ Wylle, Steve; McComb, Jen; Thiele, Kevin (August 10, 2018). "The Mysterious Pilostyles is a Plant within a Plant". https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-pilostyles-is-a-plant-within-a-plant-98767.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Filipowicz, Natalia; Renner, Susanne S (2010-07-21). "The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees". BMC Evolutionary Biology 10 (1): 219. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-219. ISSN 1471-2148. PMID 20663122. Bibcode: 2010BMCEE..10..219F.
- ↑ Stevens, P.F.. "Apodanthaceae". Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/cucurbitalesweb.htm#Apodanthaceae.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q6075951 entry
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