Balanophoraceae

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Balanophoraceae
BalanophoraceaeCoorg3.jpg
A Balanophora sp. from the Western Ghats
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Balanophoraceae
Rich. [1]
Genera

See text.

The Balanophoraceae are a subtropical to tropical family of obligate parasitic flowering plants, notable for their unusual development and formerly obscure affinities. In the broadest circumscription, the family consists of 16 genera. Alternatively, three genera may be split off into the segregate family Mystropetalaceae.

Contents

The plants are normally found in moist inland forests growing on tree roots and have an above ground inflorescence 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. 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 Balanophoriflorae (also called Balanophoranae). The APG IV system of 2016 (unchanged from the APG III system of 2009 [2] ), also recognizes this family, including it in the order Santalales, [3] where it was also placed by the Cronquist system (1981).

A 2015 molecular phylogenetic suggested that as circumscribed in the APG IV system, Balanophoraceae is not monophyletic. The authors of the study proposed dividing Balanophoraceae s.l. into Balanophoraceae s.s. and the family Mystropetalaceae, containing three monotypic genera, Dactylanthus , Hachettea and Mystropetalon . The cladogram below shows the relationships obtained (using the broad APG IV circumscriptions of Olacaceae and Santalaceae). [4] [5]

Santalales

Olacaceae s.l.

Balanophoraceae s.s.

Mystropetalaceae 

Loranthaceae

Misodendraceae

Schoepfiaceae

Opiliaceae

Santalaceae s.l.

Balanophoraceae s.l.

Genera

As of July 2021, the broadly circumscribed family was accepted by Plants of the World Online, which included the following genera. [1] Other sources place three of the genera in the segregate family Mystropetalaceae. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

Lamiales Order of dicot flowering plants

The Lamiales are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 24 families. Being one of the largest orders of flowering plants, Lamiales have representatives found all over the world. Well-known or economically important members of this order include lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, the ash tree, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, and a number of table herbs such as mint, basil, and rosemary. Lamiales and Orobanchaceae are both the largest populated parasitic angiosperms of flowering plants.

Santalales Order of flowering plants

The Santalales are an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions. It derives its name from its type genus Santalum (sandalwood). Mistletoe is the common name for a number of parasitic plants within the order.

Viscaceae Family of flowering plants

Viscaceae is a taxonomic family name of flowering plants. In this circumscription, the family includes the several genera of mistletoes. This family name is currently being studied and under review as in past decades, several systems of plant taxonomy recognized this family, notably the 1981 Cronquist system.

Loranthaceae Family of mistletoes

Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are Nuytsia floribunda, Atkinsonia ligustrina, and Gaiadendron punctatum Loranthaceae are primarily xylem parasites, but their haustoria may sometimes tap the phloem, while Tristerix aphyllus is almost holoparasitic. For a more complete description of the Australian Loranthaceae, see Flora of Australia online., for the Malesian Loranthaceae see Flora of Malesia.

Francoaceae Family of flowering plants

The Francoaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Geraniales, including the genera Francoa, commonly known as bridal wreaths, and Tetilla. The Francoaceae are recognized as a family under various classification schemes but under the APG III system the Francoaceae are included within the Melianthaceae. In the APG IV system the Francoaceae are again recognized as a family, with Melianthaceae included in the circumscription of Francoaceae.

<i>Dactylanthus taylorii</i> Species of flowering plant

Dactylanthus taylorii, commonly known in English as wood rose and in Māori as te pua o te rēinga, is a fully parasitic flowering plant, the only one endemic to New Zealand. The host tree responds to the presence of Dactylanthus by forming a burl-like structure that resembles a fluted wooden rose. When the flowers emerge on the forest floor, they are pollinated by a ground-foraging species of native bat.

Hemerocallidoideae Subfamily of flowering plants

Hemerocallidoideae is the a subfamily of flowering plants, part of the family Asphodelaceae sensu lato in the monocot order Asparagales according to the APG system of 2016. Earlier classification systems treated the group as a separate family, the Hemerocallidaceae. The name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, Hemerocallis. The largest genera in the group are Dianella, Hemerocallis (15), and Caesia (11).

Asphodelaceae Family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales

Asphodelaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, but the circumscription has varied widely. In its current circumscription in the APG IV system, it includes about 40 genera and 900 known species. The type genus is Asphodelus.

The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009 by a further revision, the APG III system.

Rafflesiaceae Family of flowering plants

The Rafflesiaceae are a family of rare parasitic plants comprising 36 species in 3 genera found in the tropical forests of east and southeast Asia, including Rafflesia arnoldii, which has the largest flowers of all plants. The plants are endoparasites of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae) and lack stems, leaves, roots, and any photosynthetic tissue. They rely entirely on their host plants for both water and nutrients, and only then emerge as flowers from the roots or lower stems of the host plants.

Tecophilaeaceae Family of flowering plants

Tecophilaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. It consists of nine genera with a total of 27 species.

Olacaceae Family of flowering plants

Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. As of July 2021, the circumscription of the family varies; some sources maintain a broad family, others split it into seven segregate families.

Schoepfiaceae Family of flowering plants

Schoepfiaceae is a family of flowering plants recognized in the APG III system of 2009. The family was previously only recognized by few taxonomists; the plants in question usually being assigned to family Olacaceae and Santalaceae.

Opiliaceae Family of flowering plants

Opiliaceae is a family of flowering plants comprising 11 genera and 33 known species. It consists of tropical woody plants. Several genera contain parasitic species. The biggest genus, in number of species and in stature of the individual plants, is Agonandra, the only American genus.

Ochanostachys is a genus of flowering plants with a single species, Ochanostachys amentacea. The genus is placed in the family Olacaceae in the APG IV system and by sources that use it. It may alternatively be placed in the family Coulaceae, if the split of Olacaceae into seven separate families is accepted. Ochanostachys amentacea is native to the Andaman Islands, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, the Nicobar Islands, Sumatra and Thailand.

When the APG II system of plant classification was published in April 2003, fifteen genera and three families were placed incertae sedis in the angiosperms, and were listed in a section of the appendix entitled "Taxa of uncertain position".

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 further revision, the APG IV system.

Hondurodendron is a monotypic genus of tree endemic to Honduras. The only species in the genus, H. urceolatum, was discovered during 2004 and 2006 botanical surveys of plants in Parque Nacional El Cusuco in northwest Honduras. It was subsequently described in 2010 by Carmen Ulloa Ulloa, Daniel L. Nickrent, Caroline Whitefoord, and Daniel L. Kelly in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Aptandraceae Family of flowering plants

The Aptandraceae is a family of flowering plants in the sandalwood order Santalales that is recognized by some sources; others sink the family in Olacaceae. The members of the tropical plant family are parasitic on other plants, usually on the roots, and grow as trees, shrubs or woody lianas.

Superasterids Clade of flowering plants

The superasterids are members of a large clade of flowering plants, containing more than 122,000 species.

References

  1. 1 2 "Balanophoraceae Rich.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  2. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x .
  3. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 181 (1): 1–20. doi: 10.1111/boj.12385 .
  4. 1 2 Su, Huei-Jiun; Hu, Jer-Ming; Anderson, Frank E.; Der, Joshua P. & Nickrent, Daniel L. (2015). "Phylogenetic relationships of Santalales with insights into the origins of holoparasitic Balanophoraceae" (PDF). Taxon. 64 (3): 491–506. doi:10.12705/643.2 . Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  5. 1 2 Nickrent, Daniel L. (2020). "Parasitic angiosperms: How often and how many?". Taxon. 69 (1): 5–27, S3. doi:10.1002/tax.12195.