Cytinaceae A. Rich.

Family Description

Distribution Map

List of Genera

Photographs

Bdallophytum americanum (= B. bambusorum). Also being spelled Bdallophyton

Immature and mature inflorescences. Near Juigalpa, Nicaragua. Photo by Job Kuijt.
Young inflorescences emerging from excavated host root. Near Juigalpa, Nicaragua. Photo by Job Kuijt.
Male plant, parasitic on roots of Bursera, Centro de Investigaciones Costeras La Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico. Photo by José G. García-Franco.
Female plant, parasitic on roots of Bursera, Centro de Investigaciones Costeras La Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico. Photo by José G. García-Franco.
Photos. Staminate and carpellate flowers. Nicaragua. Photos by Olga Martha Montiel, voucher by Stevens (20527). Link goes to TROPICOS.
Bdallophytum americanum.Infructescence. August 1990. Photo by J. Mauseth.
Series of photos showing the infructescence, old male inflorescence, closer view of senescing male flower, and ovary cross section showing placentation. Mexico, Chiapas. Muncp. Jiquipilas, Cerro el Campanario. Photo 14 September 2008 by C. Davidson (coll. N. Martinez 2425, 2426). From the FloraoftheWorld.org web site.

Cytinus baronii

Photo. Flowers in tight inflorescence emerging from host (Croton) bark. Masoala peninsula, West coast, Andranobe, Madagascar. Photo by S. Malcomber (voucher 2804A). Link goes to TROPICOS.

Cytinus capensis

Labeled photos of this rare and endangered species showing diagnostic features. Goes to the iSpot web site, by Priscilla Burgoyne.
Old flowers, forming fruits, growing at the base of host plant, Diosma hirsuta (Rutaceae). South Africa. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."
Inflorescence. Portions of plant exposed to light become colored. South Africa. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."

Cytinus hypocistis

Plant parasitic on Cistus ladenifer, Spain. Photograph by Iñigo Sanchez.
Plant parasitic on Cistus, Spain. Photograph by Peter Phillipson.
Plants with flower buds. Fango River, Corsica, France. From Plant Image Gallery by Thomas Schoepke.
Plants in flower. Fango River, Corsica, France. From Plant Image Gallery by Thomas Schoepke.
Close-up of flowers. Spain. Photo by Willem Meijer.
Photo. Flowers. Rala, Albacete, Spain. Photo by Juan Sanchez. Link goes to Flickr.
Photos. Flowers and flower buds. Mijas, Andalucia, Spain. Photo by Joaquín Ramírez. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Flowers fully open. Along path to Cortijo de Rufino, Senda (65) del Nacimiento de Maro al Cortijo de la Civila, Andalucia, Spain. Photo by Peter Greenwoods. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Showing male and female flowers on this monoecious species. Parasitic on white flowered Cistus clusii and C. salviifolius. Spain. Photo by Floradelport. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Clear photo showing flowers of both sexes. Parque Nacional de Monfragüe, Cáceres, Spain. Photo by naturalezafrague. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Plant in flower. Spain, Almeria Cabo de Gata. Photo 16 Apr 2004 by C. Davidson. From the FloraoftheWorld.org web site.

Cytinus ruber

Habit of plant, excavated, attached to host root. Greece (Samos). Photo by Th. Fabbro and Th. Zumbrunn. See the Botanical Image Database.
Same as above, sectioned longitudinally. Greece (Samos). Photo by Th. Fabbro and Th. Zumbrunn. See the Botanical Image Database.
Young floral buds on inflorescence emerging from the soil. Greece (Samos). Photo by Th. Fabbro and Th. Zumbrunn. See the Botanical Image Database.
Inflorescence with opening flower buds. Greece (Samos). Photo by Th. Fabbro and Th. Zumbrunn. See the Botanical Image Database.
Close-up of flower. Greece (Samos). Photo by Th. Fabbro and Th. Zumbrunn. See the Botanical Image Database.
Inflorescence close-up. Photo by W. Barthlott March 1986.
Plant in flower. Bachas, Mallorca, Spain. From Plant Image Gallery by Thomas Schoepke.
Close-up of flower. Bachas, Mallorca, Spain. From Plant Image Gallery by Thomas Schoepke.
Fruits. Plant cultivated at the Bonn Botanical Garden. Photograph by D. L. Nickrent.
Plants cultivated on Cistus by Rafael Govaerts (no. 9900023) at Kew Botanical Garden. Photo by R. Govaerts (fall 2001).
One and two closer views of the Cytinus shoots emerging from the soil at the base of the host plant. Photos by R. Govaerts.
Photo of plant in flower, parasitic on Cistus creticus. Ikaria, Greece. Photograph by Karl Hauser. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo of plant in flower. Photo by Viorica Grinsberger. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo of plant in flower. Photo by Joseba Castillo. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Plant in full flower. Northen Chios, Greece. Photo by Stellamaria. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo. Flower buds just opening. Quinta da Ombria - Querença, Loulé, Portugal. Photo by Algarviensis. Link goes to Flickr.

Cytinus sanguineus

Excellent series of photos of male plants (this species is dioecious) by Meredith Cosgrove in South Africa. Link goes to PhytoImages.
Photos of flowers from the iSpot web site HERE. Be careful of the taxonomy browser on the iSpot website. Clicking on Cytinus or Cytinaceae returns photos of Hyobanche (Orobanchaceae). Notice there are flowers with bright red perianths whereas others are darker. This species is considered by some to be conspecific with C. capensis (hence C. sanguineus a synonym of C. capensis).
Flowers emerging from host roots. South Africa. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."
Flowers emerging in a series along the host root. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."
Close-up of interior of flower. Birds are usually implicated as the main pollinators owing to the bright red coloration and the presence of floral cavities (each containing ca.300 µl of nectar) surrounded by glandular hairs on the yellow rim. Visser hypothesizes that ants may also assist in pollination. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."
One view and a second of the fruits. At the foot of dunes on the beach near Sedgefield (between George and Knysna), South Africa. "SOPHY" : Banque de données Botaniques et Ecologiques. Présentation de photographies de plantes d’Afrique du sud et Namibie. Photo by Henry Brisse.

Cytinus visseri

Habit of plant. Photo 1 and photo2. This new species, recently named by Smithies and Burgoyne in honor of Dr. JohannVisser. Long Tom Pass, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Photos by Mark Mort.
Dissected flowers, on light background and dark background. Same location as above. Photos by Mark Mort.
Good photos of this species (the Northern Vampire Cup!) by Priscilla Burgoyne on the iSpot web site HERE.
The flowers of Cytinus visseri are visited by elephant shrews, guided their by the smell. The volatile compounds are being explored by Stefan Dötteri at the University of Bayreuth. An English translation of his webpage is HERE and the original German one HERE.
Flowers. Plant (at this time unnamed) from Northern Transvaal. Photo from J. Visser (1981), "South African Parasitic Flowering Plants."

Cytinus species novum (possibly)

Unopened flower bud. Madagascar, Prov. Antsiranana, Masoala Peninsula. Photograph by George E. Schatz [no. 3697, Schatz et al. 17 Nov 1996].
Opened flower bud. Madagascar, Prov. Antsiranana, Masoala Peninsula. Photograph by George E. Schatz [no. 3697, Schatz et al. 17 Nov 1996].
Female flower. This is possibly the same species as Schatz 3697 (above). Marojejy National Park, Madagascar. Photo by Erik Patel.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic Relationships of Cytinaceae Revealed!

• The first study to show Cytinaceae were related to Malvales was Nickrent et al. (2004). For a PDF file of this article, click HERE. For the online version, go HERE.

• A later study showed that Cytinaceae are related to Muntingiaceae in Malvales. This was reported in Nickrent (2007). For a PDF file of this article, click HERE.

References

SIUC / College of Science / Parasitic Plant Connection / Cytinaceae
URL: http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/Cytinaceae/index.html
Last updated: 30-Sept-12 / dln