Pilostyles

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Pilostyles
Pilostyles hamiltonii.jpg
A cluster of Pilostyles hamiltonii flowers growing out of a Daviesia stem
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Apodanthaceae
Genus: Pilostyles
Guill.
Species

See text

Synonyms

Berlinianche(Harms) Vattimo-Gil

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]

The genus was formerly considered a member of Rafflesiaceae, and was re-classified after new DNA evidence [10] [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pilostyles Guill. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  2. 1 2 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.
  3. ↑ USDA Plants Profile: Pilostyles
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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. 1 2 McComb, Jen (2018-08-13). "The mysterious Pilostyles is a plant within a plant". Murdoch University. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  7. ↑ Armstrong, W. Southern California's Most Unusual Wildflower
  8. ↑ Wylle, Steve; McComb, Jen; Thiele, Kevin (August 10, 2018). "The Mysterious Pilostyles is a Plant within a Plant" . Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  9. 1 2 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. Bibcode:2010BMCEE..10..219F. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-10-219 . ISSN   1471-2148. PMC   3055242 . PMID   20663122.
  10. ↑ Stevens, P.F. "Apodanthaceae". Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
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