| Balanophoraceae | ||||||||||
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 from Pflanzenleben (1913) | ||||||||||
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Balanophoraceae is a subtropical to tropical family of unusual parasitic flowering plants. The plants have an aboveground inflorescence with the overall appearance of a fungus, composed of numerous minute flowers. The inflorescences develop inside the 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.
The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), also recognizes this family but leaves it unplaced, as to order and higher grouping. The AP-Website indicates that the family should be included in the order Santalales (post APG II), where it was also placed by the Cronquist system (1981).
Genera (incomplete list)
External links
- Balanophoraceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. Version: 2nd June 2006. http://delta-intkey.com
- Balanophoraceae at Parasitic plants
- NCBI Taxonomy Browser