Link to Family Description in DeltaParasitic Genera Included: Lennoa and Pholisma (the latter now including Ammobroma). See Yatskievych and Mason (1986, Syst. Bot. 11:531-548).
Habit: Herbaceous, succulent, achlorophyllous holoparasites.
Parasitism: Holoparasites
Roots: Spreading horizontally from the subterranean rhizomes; haustoria initiated on short lateral branches.
Stem: Subterranean (or nearly so); white to brownish. With stalked, glandular hairs. Vascular bundles colateral. Primary vascular tissue centrifugal. Cortical bundles present. Secondary thickening absent. Vessel end-walls simple.
Leaves: Scale-like, spirally arranged, without stipules.
Inflorescence: Cymose-thyrsoid, cymose-paniculate, spicate or capitulate.
Plant Sex: Plants hermaphrodite
Flowers: Perfect, actinomorphic (or slightly irregular or zygomorphic), (4)5-9(10)-merous, bracteate.
Calyx: Tubular or divided nearly to the base into narrow lobes, more or less isomerous, puberulent to tomentose with glandular trichomes.
Corolla: Sympetalous, funnelform to salverform, limb recurving in age; petals united nearly to apex, limb variously lobed; lobes imbricate or induplicate.
Androecium: Stamens included, as many as corolla lobes and alternating with them, strongly epipetalous by short filaments attaching above middle of corolla tube, 1-2-seriate; anthers tetrasporangiate, dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits; Pollen binucleate 3-4 - colporate.
Gynoecium: Ovary superior, globose to subturbinate, entire or shallowly lobed, consisting of 5-16 fused, biovulate carpels with false partitions between ovules (so that ovary has twice as many compartments as carpels); style single, stout, terminal; stigma capitate, entire or slightly 5-9 lobed; placentation axile, but appearing free central in fruit.
Ovule: Anatropous, epitropous, unitegmic, tenuinucellar.
Embryo, etc.: Polygonum-type embryo-sac development. Endosperm development cellular. Embryogeny caryophyllad.
Fruit: A slightly depressed capsule, somewhat fleshy but drying at maturity; dehiscence circumscissile by an irregular ring below middle of capsule
Seed: Tan to dark brown, 0.5 - 1.0 mm long, ovate to slightly reniform, laterally flattened, with reticulate surfaces. Embryo undifferentiated, globose, embedded in a copious, starchy endosperm.
Chromosomes: X = 9
Link to Family Description in Delta
Last updated: 06-Dec-16 / dln