Cassytha

...A parasitic vine of the Lauraceae family with herbaceous stems, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It is particularly common on the coast. The stems are yellow-green, yellowish brown or brown, cord-like, 1-2 mm in diameter, and branch out well. They parasitize trees and grasses by extruding small haustoria, covering the host like a tangled cord. They obtain much of their nutrients from the host through the haustoria, but also have chloroplasts and perform photosynthesis. The leaves are small, degenerate scales, sparsely alternate on the stem, and at first glance appear to be leafless. The inflorescence is a spike 2-5 cm long, borne in the axils of the scale leaves, and bears several to a dozen pale yellow florets, which open in order from the bottom up. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Cassytha" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…草質の茎をもったクスノキ科の寄生性つる植物で，世界の熱帯から亜熱帯に広く分布する。とくに海岸に多い。茎は黄緑色，黄褐色または褐色，径1～2mmのひも状で，よく分枝する。小さい吸器を出して木や草に寄生し，もつれたひものように寄主をおおう。吸器を通じて多くの栄養を寄主から得るが，葉緑体をもち，光合成も行う。葉は小さく退化した鱗片状で，茎に疎に互生し，一見，無葉にみえる。花序は長さ2～5cmの穂状で，鱗片葉の葉腋（ようえき）に生じ，数個～十数個の淡黄色の小花をつけ，花序の下方の花から順に開く。…

※「Cassytha」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報