|
|
Some time ago I presented a talk to a general audience about parasitic plants wherein I showed a slide of an Orobanche-infested field where the parasite seemed to outnumber the host plants. Afterwards, one member of the audience made the suggestion that maybe the farmers should stop trying to grow the crop and eat the parasite! The audience let out a collective laugh, but I have since had time to think about that not so silly suggestion. Indeed, Orobanche is eaten (like asparagus) as discussed in the recent paper by Rubiales (1999). The 2009 paper by Xu and coauthors shows that indeed Cistanche deserticola is cultivated for food and medicine in China.
The table below is my summary of the topic of humans "turning the tables" (literally) on parasitic plants. As a starting point I borrowed information from Kuijt (1969) and received some good information (and leads on references) from Lytton Musselman. Lytton is uniquely qualified to help in this regard because 1) he is an avid botanist and specialist in parasitic plants and 2) he loves to eat!
This list should be considered just a starting point. I will be happy to add additional examples of parasitic plants documented to be used by humans for food - just send me (D. Nickrent) an e-mail message. Bon Appetit!
| Parasite | Part Used | Location | Reference |
| Balanophoraceae | |||
| Hachettea | Inflorescence | New Caledonia | Rendle et al. 1921 |
| Langsdorffia | Inflorescence | Columbia | Hooker 1855 |
| Lophophytum | Inflorescence | Colombia | Hooker 1855 |
| Ombrophytum subterraneum | Inflorescence |
Chile Bolivia |
Mauseth, pers. comm. Asplund 1928 |
| Convolvulaceae | |||
| Cuscuta | Seeds | SW USA |
Kuijt 1969 Hunziker 1950 |
| Cynomoriaceae | |||
| Cynomorium coccineum | Inflorescence |
Canary Islands Africa (by Beduins) |
Hooker 1855 L. J. Musselman, pers. com. |
| Hydnoraceae | |||
| Hydnora | Fruit |
Africa Madagascar |
Vaccaneo 1934 Story 1958 Jumelle and Perrier de la Bâthie 1912 |
| Prosopanche | Fruit | South America | Cocucci 1965 |
| Lennoaceae | |||
| Pholisma [Ammobroma] | Inflorescence | SW USA | Gray 1854 |
| Lennoa | Inflorescence | Mexico | Dressler and Kuijt 1968 |
| Loranthaceae | |||
| Various genera (Amyema, Decaisnina, Dendrophthoe) | Fruits | Australia (by Aborigines) |
Cleland 1957 A. Calladine pers. com. D. M.Watson, pers. com |
| "Olacaceae" s. lat. | |||
| Erythropalum scandens | Leaves | Southeast Asia | Web page |
| Ximenia americana | Fruit | Africa | L. J. Musselman, pers. com. |
| Opiliaceae | |||
| Cansjera leptostachya | Fruits | SE Asia, Australia | Dunlop et al. 1976 Hiepko 1979 |
| Champereia manillana | Young leaves and fruits | SE Asia | Hiepko 1979 |
| Melientha suavis | Young shoots, inflorescences, fruit | SE Asia | Hiepko 1979 |
| Opilia amentacea | Fruit | N. Australia, Sudan |
Hiepko 1982 Worsley 1961 |
| "Santalaceae" s. lat. | |||
| Buckleya | Fruit | Asia | Carvell and Eshbaugh 1982 |
| Geocaulon lividum | Fruit | Canada | L. J. Musselman, pers. com. |
| Pyrularia | Fruit | China | Mabberley 1997 |
| Santalum | Fruit | Australia | Hewson and George 1984 |
| Orobanchaceae | |||
| Boschniakia | Shoots | N. America | Henry 1915 |
| Castilleja | Inflorescences | N. America | Moerman 2008, 2010 Tilford 1997 |
| Cistanche | Shoots | Europe by Taureg |
Mabberley 1997 Xu et al. 2009 |
| Orobanche | Shoots | Europe, Asia | Rubiales 1999 |
| Pedicularis | Roots | British Columbia | Szczawinski and Hardy 1962 |
Asplund, E. 1928. Eine neue Balanophoraceen-Gattung aus Bolivien. Sv. Bot. Tidskr. 22: 261-277.
Carvell, W. N., and W. H. Eshbaugh. 1982. A systematic study of the genus Buckleya Santalaceae. Castanea 47: 17-37.
Cleland, J. B. 1957. Mankind 5(4): 149-162.
Cocucci, A. E. 1965. Estudios en el genero Prosopanche Hydnoraceae. I. Revision taxonomica. Kurtziana 2: 53-73.
Dressler, R. L., and J. Kuijt. 1968. A second species of Ammobroma Lennoaceae in Sinaloa, Mexico. Madroño 19: 179-182.
Dunlop, C. R., P. K. Lataz, and J. R. Maconochie. 1976. A botanical survey of Elcho Island, July 1975. Northern Territory Bulletin 1: 1-61.
Gray, A. 1854. Plantae Novae Thurberianae. Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., N.S. 5: 297-328.
Henry, J. K. 1915. Flora of southern British Columbia. Gage & Co., Ltd., Toronto.
Hewson, H. J., and A. S. George. 1984. Santalaceae. Pages 29-67 in A. S. George, ed. Flora of Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Hiepko, P. 1979. A revision of Opiliaceae I Genera of the eastern Old World, excluding Opilia. Willdenowia 9: 13-56.
Hiepko, P. 1982. A revision of Opiliaceae II Opilia Roxb. Willdenowia 12: 161-182.
Hooker, J. D. 1855. On the structure and affinities of Balanophoraceae. Trans. Linn. Soc. London 22: 1-68 plus 16 plates.
Hunziker, A. T. 1950. Las Especies de Cuscuta Convolvulaceae de Argentina y Uruguay. Pages 356. Universidad Nacionale de Cordoba, Argentina.
Jumelle, H., and H. Perrier de la Bâthie. 1912. Quelques phanérogames parasites de Madagascar. Rev. Gen. Bot. 24: 321-328.
Kuijt, J. 1969. The Biology of Parasitic Flowering Plants. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
Mabberley, D. J. 1997. The Plant Book. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Moerman D. 2008. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press.
Moerman D. 2010. Native American Food Plants: An Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Timber Press.
Rendle, A. B., F. G. Baker, and S. L. M. Moore. 1921. A systematic account of the plants collected in New Caledonia and the Isle of Pines by Prof R H Compton, M A, in 1914. Jour. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 45: 245-417.
Rubiales, D. 1999. Eating broomrape? Pages 195-199 in J. I. Cubero, M. T. Moreno, D. Rubiales, and J. Sillero, eds. Resistance to Orobanche: The state of the art. Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca, Sevilla, Spain.
Story, R. 1958. Some plants used by the Bushmen in obtaining food and water. Mem. Bot. Survey S. Afr. 30.: 1-115.
Szczawinski, A. F., and G. A. Hardy. 1962. Guide to common edible plants of British Columbia. B. C. Prov. Mus. Handb. No. 20, Victoria, British Columbia.
Tilford GL. 1997. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Mountain Press Publishing Co.
Vaccaneo, R. 1934. Hydnoraceae Africae. Atti Accad. naz. Lincei Memorie [Kuijt cites as: Mem. R. Acad. dei Lincei, Roma] 5: 413-458.
Worsley, P. 1961. The utilization of natural food resources by an Australian aboriginal tribe. Acta Ethnographica 10: 153-190.
Xu, R., J. Chen, S.-L. Chen, T.-N. Liu, W.-C. Zhu, and J. Xu. 2009. Cistanche deserticola Ma cultivated as a new crop in China. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 56: 137-142.