Although we are used to hearing that they are planted manufacture their own food because they absorb nutrients by the roots and the process of chlorophyll photosynthesis, this is not entirely correct. Although most do so, not all vegetables are autotrophic, there are some plants that take advantage of the effort made by other plants to obtain food and survive, such as parasitic plants.
From ecology, we want you to know in depth What are parasitic plantswhat are the types that exist and their characteristics. Do not miss this article to know everything about them!
Parasitic plants: definition and characteristics
To explain the Characteristics of parasitic plantswe will begin by defining what parasitism is:
What is parasitism
It is important to start knowing the Meaning of parasitism. Parasitism happens when an animal, plant, fungus, viruses or bacteria (the parasite), takes advantage of another living being (host) by extracting from it the food it needs to live.
Definition and characteristics of parasitic plants
Unlike animals, plants are autotrophic, or at least that’s what they have taught us, right? Well, the truth is that there are certain cases in which Plants do not manufacture their foodat least not at all, that is, they are heterotrophs or partially heterotrophies. This is the case, for example, of parasitic plants.
Not having chlorophyll, many parasitic plants cannot carry out photosynthesis, which leads them to feed on water and nutrients from other vegetables. There are many species of parasitic plants, approximately 4,100 species of 19 different families and most have very striking colors and shapes.
In addition to the total or partial lack of chlorophyll, these types of plants have other changes associated with their structure and roots, such as the presence of haustors, or what is the same, sucking roots that penetrate the host plant and connect with their xylem and/or with their phloem (conductive tissues that transport the wise and nutrients and support the structure of the plant).
Types of parasitic plants and examples
There is a great diversity of parasitic plants, those that need their host to survive (forced parasite), which could live independently to the host (optional parasite), which are installed in the stems of the parasitized plant (parasite of stems), or those that do the same in the roots (root parasite). However, there are two major important groups of parasitic plants, holoparasitas and hemiparasitesthat are defined by their degree of parasitism:
Holoparasitas
- Complete parasitism.
- Absence of photosynthesis.
- Plants with yellowish colors due to the lack of chlorophyll.
- Food through other living organisms.
- Examples: the jopo (Orobanche sp.), the cuscuta (Cuscuta sp, as the beard plant of Capuchino or Cuscuta Epithymum) and Cytinus sp., as Cytinus hypocistis.
Hemiparasites
- Partial parasitism.
- You can perform photosynthesis.
- Plants with greenish colors for the presence of chlorophyll.
- Food through other living organisms and also for photosynthesis.
- Examples: The Merdago (Viscum Sp) and Thesium sp.
Holoparasite plant example: the oobancáceas
The family of The OroBancáceas (Oobanchaceae) They are parasitic plants without specialized sheets in concrete species of vegetables, such as thyme, ivy or ginset and belong to the order of the lamps. There are more than 200 species of very geographically distributed orbancáceas, being present in almost all temperate regions of the planet, except the South America area and some parts of Australia and New Zealand.
In the superficial part of these squamous plants is where the biological phases of the reproductive stage, flowering and the production and dispersion of seeds are performed. The rest of the biological activity develops underground, where the host’s roots parasitate.
Some examples of parasitic plants that are holoparasitas And they are inside the Orobancáceas family are:
- Orobanche Hederae
- Nana Orobanche
- Orobanche Amethystea
- Orobanche Alba
- Orobanche Ballotae
- Orobanche Cernua
- Orobanche Clausonis
- Orobanche Crenata
- Orobanche Foetida Poir. var. Foetida
- Orobanche Gracilis
- Orobanche Haenseleri
- Orobanche Latisquama
Another example of a parasitic root plant is the Langsdorffia Hypoagaawhich we can see in the cover image of this article.
Hemiparasite plant example: Merdagos and other species
The Merdago (Viscum sp) is considered one of the Parasites of treesmore specifically, a semi -maid plant of apple trees, poplars and pines, from the family of Santaláceas, and that can cause great destruction in land extensions. The Merdago, as a plague, sweeps wherever passes and is difficult to eliminate.
At the same time that it performs photosynthesis such as autotrophic plants, the soybean also feeds on water and nutrients from the tree to which it adheres. This white fruit vegetable is originally from Europe, Asia and America and, in addition to being a typically Christmas plant, it is currently used in natural medicine. Finally, it should be noted that there are around 1300 species of Merdago on the planet.
Other examples of parasitic plants inside hemiparasites there is:
- Arceuthobium oxycedri
- Bartsia Trxago
- OSYRIS ALBA
- Osyris Quadripartita
- Parentucellia Latifolia
- SSium humifusum
If you want to read more articles similar to Parasitic plants: characteristics, types and exampleswe recommend that you enter our biology category.
