Boschniakia
Encyclopedia
Boschniakia is a small genus of three species of parasitic plant
in the broomrape family
. They are known commonly as groundcones and they are native to western North America and extreme northeastern Asia.
Groundcones are holoparasitic, meaning they depend entirely on a host plant for nutrients and contain little or no chlorophyll
. These plants often parasitize alder
s but they are found on many other plants. B. hookeri may be found on salal
and huckleberries
, and B. strobilacea grows on manzanita
and madrone
. Groundcones often look at first glance like pine cones
lying on the ground, especially when they are brown in color. They may also be shades of yellow, red, and purple. Each plant may be a few inches tall, and pine-cone-shaped or cylindrical. The plant above ground is almost entirely made up of its inflorescence, a tightly packed column of thick cup-shaped flowers. The groundcone produces haustoria
which penetrate the roots of its host and provide it with water and nutrients.
Species:
Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or...
in the broomrape family
Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family, is a family of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato...
. They are known commonly as groundcones and they are native to western North America and extreme northeastern Asia.
Groundcones are holoparasitic, meaning they depend entirely on a host plant for nutrients and contain little or no chlorophyll
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in almost all plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek words χλωρος, chloros and φύλλον, phyllon . Chlorophyll is an extremely important biomolecule, critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light...
. These plants often parasitize alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
s but they are found on many other plants. B. hookeri may be found on salal
Salal
Gaultheria shallon is a leathery-leaved shrub in the heather family , native to western North America. In English it is known as salal, shallon, or in Britain simply Gaultheria.-Ecology:...
and huckleberries
Vaccinium
Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry...
, and B. strobilacea grows on manzanita
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
and madrone
Arbutus
Arbutus is a genus of at least 14 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, and North America.-Description:...
. Groundcones often look at first glance like pine cones
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...
lying on the ground, especially when they are brown in color. They may also be shades of yellow, red, and purple. Each plant may be a few inches tall, and pine-cone-shaped or cylindrical. The plant above ground is almost entirely made up of its inflorescence, a tightly packed column of thick cup-shaped flowers. The groundcone produces haustoria
Haustorium
In botany, a haustorium is the appendage or portion of a parasitic fungus or of the root of a parasitic plant that penetrates the host's tissue and draws nutrients from it. Haustoria do not penetrate the host's cell membranes.Fungi in all major divisions form haustoria...
which penetrate the roots of its host and provide it with water and nutrients.
Species:
- Boschniakia hookeriBoschniakia hookeriBoschniakia hookeri is a species of parasitic plant in the broomrape family known by the common names Vancouver groundcone and small groundcone....
- Vancouver groundcone, small groundcone - Boschniakia rossica - northern groundcone, cao cong rong
- Boschniakia strobilaceaBoschniakia strobilaceaBoschniakia strobilacea is a species of parasitic plant in the broomrape family known by the common name California groundcone.It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in wooded areas and chaparral. It is a parasite of manzanitas and madrones, which it parasitizes by...
- California groundcone