"Malcolm Manners" wrote in
message news:OIG0f.3961$C51.238@trnddc07...
mel turner wrote:
"Malcolm Manners" wrote in
message news:tgk0f.100$%W3.71@trnddc08...

Hi folks,
A few years ago I found this plant near Ibadan, Nigeria, apparently
parasitic (since only non-chlorophyllous parts seem to come above the
soil surface). It was in a mixed orchard of Theobroma cacao and Cola
nitida, so I presume it was parasitizing the roots of one or the other,
although there were plenty of weed species present as well, and I guess
it could have been attacking one of them.

Any ideas about its identity would be appreciated.

Malcolm Manners
Florida Southern College

http://members.aol.com/mmmavocado/parasite1.jpg
http://members.aol.com/mmmavocado/parasite2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/mmmavocado/parasite3.jpg

Try _Thonningia sanguinea_, a member of the parasitic flowering
plant family Balanophoraceae:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...ch&sa=N&tab=wi

http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/Balanophoraceae/

http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/B...gia.sang1.JPEG
http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/B...honningia4.jpg

Thanks Mel. That appears to be it. A family with which I'm not at all
familiar.

Probably relatively few botanists are very familiar with this family.
They are definitely among the oddest parasitic angiosperm families;
many members superficially seem more reminiscent of fungi than of
vascular plants. At least _Thonningia_ has those showy red bracts,
so its inflorescences appear more flowerlike than fungoid.

Some nice photos of Thonningia, by the way!

cheers