Pilostyles

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{automatic taxobox | image = Pilostyles hamiltonii.jpg | image_caption = A cluster of ''Pilostyles hamiltonii'' flowers growing out of a ''Daviesia'' stem | taxon = Pilostyles | authority = Guill. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms = ''Berlinianche'' (Harms) Vattimo-Gil }}

'''''Pilostyles''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apodanthaceae. It includes about 11 species of very small, completely parasitic plants that live inside the stems of woody legumes.<ref name="POWO">{{Cite web |title=Pilostyles Guill. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:14131-1 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Gomes |first1=André Luis |last2=Fernandes |first2=G. Wilson |date=1994-09-01 |title=Influence of Parasitism by Pilostyles ingae (Rafflesiaceae) on its Host Plant, Mimosa naguirei (Leguminosae) |url=https://academic.oup.com/aob/article-abstract/74/3/205/2587326 |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=205–208 |doi=10.1006/anbo.1994.1110|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as '''stemsuckers'''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100622210106/http://www.plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PILOS USDA Plants Profile: ''Pilostyles'']</ref>

The plants completely lack stems, roots, leaves, and chlorophyll. While not flowering, they do not resemble most plants, living entirely inside the host as " [...] a mycelium-like endophyte formed by strands of parenchyma cells that are in close contact to the host vasculature".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=González |first1=Angie D. |last2=Pabón-Mora |first2=Natalia |last3=Alzate |first3=Juan F. |last4=González |first4=Favio |date=2020 |title=Meristem Genes in the Highly Reduced Endoparasitic Pilostyles boyacensis (Apodanthaceae) |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=8 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2020.00209 |issn=2296-701X|doi-access=free }}</ref> Their presence is only noticeable when the flowers emerge out of the stems of the host plant.<ref name=":1" />

''Pilostyles'' is dioecious, with separate male and female plants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernandes |first1=G. W. |last2=De Mattos |first2=E. A. |last3=Franco |first3=A. C. |last4=Lüttge |first4=U. |last5=Ziegler |first5=H. |year=1998 |title=Influence of the Parasite ''Pilostyles ingae'' (Rafflesiaceae) on some Physiological Parameters of the Host Plant, ''Mimosa naguirei'' (Mimosaceae) |journal=Botanica Acta |volume=111 |pages=51–54 |doi=10.1111/j.1438-8677.1998.tb00676.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> Male and female plants are not commonly known to inhabit the same host.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McComb |first=Jen |date=2018-08-13 |title=The mysterious Pilostyles is a plant within a plant |url=https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/articles/the-mysterious-pilostyles-is-a-plant-within-a-plant |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Murdoch University |language=en}}</ref> Flowers are two or three millimeters wide and in some species each female flower can produce over 100 seeds, which are less than {{cvt|1|mm|2}} long.<ref name="armst">Armstrong, W. [http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct98.htm Southern California's Most Unusual Wildflower]</ref><ref name=":2" /> These seeds contain embryos composed of just eight cells, the smallest dicot embryo presently known.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-pilostyles-is-a-plant-within-a-plant-98767 | last= Wylle | first= Steve |last2= McComb |first2= Jen | last3= Thiele | first3= Kevin | title= The Mysterious Pilostyles is a Plant within a Plant | date= August 10, 2018 | access-date= April 5, 2023 }}</ref>

Species are found in several countries, with a discontinuous distribution. Species have been found in most of South America and tropical Africa, and also in Australia, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Syria, Turkey, and the United States.<ref name="POWO"/><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Filipowicz |first1=Natalia |last2=Renner |first2=Susanne S |date=2010-07-21 |title=The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=219 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-10-219 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=3055242 |pmid=20663122 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010BMCEE..10..219F }}</ref>

Species include:<ref name="POWO" /> *''Pilostyles aethiopica'' Welw. *''Pilostyles berteroi'' Guill. *''Pilostyles blanchetii'' (Gardner) R.Br. *''Pilostyles boyacensis'' F.Gonzáles & Pabón-Mora *''Pilostyles coccoidea'' K.R.Thiele *''Pilostyles collina'' Dell *''Pilostyles hamiltonii'' C.A.Gardner *''Pilostyles haussknechtii'' Boiss. *''Pilostyles maya'' P.Ortega, Gonz.-Martínez & S.Vásquez *''Pilostyles mexicana'' (Brandegee) Rose *''Pilostyles thurberi'' A.Gray The genus was formerly considered a member of Rafflesiaceae, and was re-classified after new DNA evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevens |first=P.F. |title=Apodanthaceae |url=http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/cucurbitalesweb.htm#Apodanthaceae |access-date=2013-07-02 |work=Angiosperm Phylogeny Website}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Pilostyles}} * [https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=9152 Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Pilostyles''] * [https://parasiticplants.siu.edu/Apodanthaceae/index.html Parasitic Plant Connection: Apodanthaceae]

Category:Apodanthaceae Category:Parasitic plants Category:Cucurbitales genera Category:Dioecious plants