# Pilostyles
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{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
| image = Pilostyles hamiltonii.jpg
| image_caption = A cluster of ''[Pilostyles hamiltonii](/source/Pilostyles_hamiltonii)'' flowers growing out of a ''[Daviesia](/source/Daviesia)'' stem
| taxon = Pilostyles
| authority = [Guill.](/source/Jean_Baptiste_Antoine_Guillemin)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
| synonyms = ''Berlinianche'' (Harms) Vattimo-Gil
}}
'''''Pilostyles''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the family [Apodanthaceae](/source/Apodanthaceae). It includes about 11 species of very small, [completely](/source/Obligate_parasite) [parasitic plant](/source/parasitic_plant)s that live inside the stems of woody [legumes](/source/Fabaceae).[{{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}}][{{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](/source/Annals_of_Botany) |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=205–208 |doi=10.1006/anbo.1994.1110|url-access=subscription }}] Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as '''stemsuckers'''.[[https://web.archive.org/web/20100622210106/http://www.plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PILOS USDA Plants Profile: ''Pilostyles'']]
The plants completely lack stems, roots, leaves, and [chlorophyll](/source/chlorophyll). While not flowering, they do not resemble most plants, living entirely inside the host as " [...] a [mycelium](/source/mycelium)-like endophyte formed by strands of [parenchyma](/source/parenchyma) cells that are in close contact to the host [vasculature](/source/Vascular_tissue)".[{{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 }}] Their presence is only noticeable when the flowers emerge out of the stems of the host plant.[{{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 }}] Male and female plants are not commonly known to inhabit the same host.[{{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}}] 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.[Armstrong, W. [http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct98.htm Southern California's Most Unusual Wildflower]][{{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 }}]
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.[{{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 }}]
Species include:[{{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}}]