Hydnora esculenta (Hydnora esculenta)
Description
Hydnora esculenta is an unmistakable plant - a totally parasitic,perennial that is without any chlorophyll or leaves at all.With its vegetative parts looking more like a fungus,it is one of the strangest plants in the world.Its vegetative plant body is highly reduced and consists of only roots and flowers - it belongs to the only family of angiosperms with no leaves or scales of any sort.Parasitic on the roots of host trees,especially Acacia spp.,it has an underground stem,or pseudo-rhizome,that grows into the host's roots and so extracts food.The plant is only seen when the tips of the flowers push out of the ground - even the fruit develops below the soil surface
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Piperales
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Family: Hydnoraceae
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Genus: Hydnora
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