Bdallophytum
Encyclopedia
Bdallophytum is a genus
of parasitic flowering plant
s with five described species. It parasitizes on the roots of plants of the genus Bursera
, such as Bursera simaruba
. The genus is endemic to the Neotropics.
It was previously placed in Rafflesia, but is now placed in family Cytinaceae
, together with the only other genus Cytinus
. Some Bdallophytum species were at one time considered to belong to this latter genus.
Bdallophytum is dioecious
.
bdell- "leech
" and phyton "plant". It was later misspelled as Bdallophyton by Eichler, and this synonym is now also in common use.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of parasitic flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s with five described species. It parasitizes on the roots of plants of the genus Bursera
Bursera
Bursera, named after the Danish botanist Joachim Burser is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size upwards to 25 m. high...
, such as Bursera simaruba
Bursera simaruba
Bursera simaruba, commonly known as the Gumbo-limbo, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas from the southeasternmost United States south through Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil and Venezuela...
. The genus is endemic to the Neotropics.
It was previously placed in Rafflesia, but is now placed in family Cytinaceae
Cytinaceae
Cytinaceae is a family of parasitic flowering plant. It comprised two genera, Cytinus and Bdallophytum, totalling ten species.These two genera were formerly placed in family Rafflesiaceae, order Malpighiales. When they were first split out into a separate family, it was placed in Malpighiales, but...
, together with the only other genus Cytinus
Cytinus
Cytinus is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. Species in this genus do not produce chlorophyll, but rely fully on its host plant. Cytinus only parasitizes Cistus and Halimium, two genera of plants in the Cistaceae family....
. Some Bdallophytum species were at one time considered to belong to this latter genus.
Bdallophytum is dioecious
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
.
Name
The genus name is probably derived from Ancient GreekAncient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
bdell- "leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
" and phyton "plant". It was later misspelled as Bdallophyton by Eichler, and this synonym is now also in common use.
Species
- Bdallophytum americanum
- Bdallophytum andrieuxii
- Bdallophytum bambusarum
- Bdallophytum ceratantherum
- Bdallophytum oxylepis