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Image Title: Hydnora africana Thunb.
Image Credit: Jay F. Bolin, Old Dominion University
AJB Editor: Judy Jernstedt, University of California - Davis
Intended End User: Teacher, Student
License Details: BSA - Terms for Image Use
Date Created: 10/1/2007
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About the Image

The vegetative anatomy of root holoparasitic plants is difficult to interpret because of its dramatic morphological reduction. This root holoparasitic plant, Hydnora africana Thunb., parasitizing Euphorbia mauritanica L. (background) in the Richtersveld of South Africa, only emerges from the soil to flower. After the fleshy petals open, the flower emits an odor of rotting meat to attract its pollinators, carrion flies and beetles. In anatomical investigations, the vegetative body of Hydnora triceps Drège & Meyer was revealed to be a rhizome with an unusual modified root-cap-like structure and xylem characteristic of its Piperalean stock.

National Science Foundation  Development Supported by the National Science Foundation