|
|
 72 parasites DHJanzen100384.jpg high resolution
|
|
| There is one very widespread plant strategy for getting its lunch without using its leaves - or any other photosynthetic structure hardly at all. Mistletoes (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) are the most visible plant parasites because they still retain their leaves (though they are sometimes non-green as in this image). Their leaves are probably primarily functional in being part of the pumping system that gets nutrients out of the host tissues (the join - the haustorum - is a visible swelling at the base of the plant on the host branch), and carrying out metabolic processes with the nutrients obtained. Mistletoes probably vary in the degree to which they get some or all of their nutrients from the host plant, and how much they make themselves (when they have green leaves). There are a number of other plant families that are totally parasitic and have totally lost their leaves. | ||
back to lecture slides
or skip to: