Hydnoraceae C. Agardh.
Prosopanche is known from southern South America and
Costa Rica. Hydnora is found in Africa and Madagascar.
This is a classic example of a Gondwanan distribution. The ancestor
of the two genera likely occupied Gondwana prior to the separation
of that continent into Africa and South America ca. 100 million
years ago. The amazing discovery of Prosopanche in Central
America (Gomez and Gomez 1981) demonstrates a wide range disjunction
for the genus. The taxon has been considered a new species (P.
costaricensis) or conspecific with P. americana of
- Habit on host plant, Euphorbia
mauritanica, near Worcester, South Africa. Photo by D. L. Nickrent.
- Flower connected to horizontal
rhizome-like pilot root. Note the blackened and whithered perianths
littering the soil nearby. Near Worcester, South Africa. Photo by D. L.
- Close-up of 3-merous flower.
Near Worcester, South Africa. Photo by D. L. Nickrent.
- Day one flower (right)
and day two flower (left), showing "bait bodies" along edges of
perianth lobes. Karasburg District, Namibia. 29 December 2002, Photo by
L. J. Musselman.
- Pilot root (dark) showing
attachment by haustorial root to the root of the host plant (Euphorbia
- light colored). Near Worcester, South Africa. Photo by D. L.
- Young fruit forming from
inferior ovary of flower (left) and a flower bud (right) opened to show
anther attachment to perianth lobe. Near Worcester, South Africa. Photo
by D. L. Nickrent.
- Mature fruit, sectioned.
Karasburg District, Namibia. 28 December 2002 . Photo by L. J.
A series of excellent photos of the flower. South Africa. Photos by
Martin Heigan. Link goes to Flickr.
Photos of the flowers. Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa. Photos
by Leon Olickers. Link goes to Flickr.
- Flowers with ruler for
scale. Ethiopia: Harar Province. Photograph by William Burger [No.
3490], 9 May 1964. Slide no. 520. archived at Kew.
- A somewhat desiccated
specimen. Ethiopia: N of Midago. Photograph by William Burger
[s.n.], 9 May 1964. Slide no. 4173 archived at Kew.
- Flower, sectioned
longitudinally, with ruler. Ethiopia, N of Midago. Photo by William
Burger. 10 May, 1964. Slide no. 4174 archived at Kew.
- Top view of flowers
emerging from grassy area. Tanganyika: Kondoa District. Photograph by
Roger Polhill and Paolo [no. 1139], 11 Jan. 1962. Slide no. 1959
archived at Kew.
- Flower being pollinated by
an orgy of beetles! From "Sex Lives of Flowers" by Meeuse, p. 92.
Photo by Malcolm J. Coe of Oxford Scientific Films.
- Fruit sectoned
longitudinally. Yemen. Photograph by Eric Danell.
- Flower. This species is
almost completely subterranean! Only the three small openings in the
flower are present near the surface of the ground.
- Flowers, longitudinally
- Fruits, showing various
stages of drying after being eaten by an unknown animal. Near Port
Nolloth, South Africa. 23 December 2002. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
- Fruits, beginning to
dehisce. Near Port Nolloth, South Africa. 23 December 2002. Photo by L.
- Fruit freshly cut
fruit, pericarp has not darkened. Near Port Nolloth, South Africa. 23
December 2002. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
- Fruit sectioned,
close-up, showing seeds. Near Port Nolloth, South Africa. 23 December
2002. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
- Comparison of fruits of
Hydnora triceps (right) and H. africana (left), both
immature. Steinkopf Road a few kilometers east of Port Nolloth,
Namibia. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
This may be the rare Hydnora esculenta,
but flowers have yet to be seen. This poorly known species is
from Berenty, a private nature reserve in southern Madagascar.
Photographs by George Williams.
- Fruit with
withered, black perianth still attached at the top.
- Good photo of pilot root
with haustorial roots (bumps) along its length. .
- Fruit sectioned showing
the parietal placentae. The pulp and seeds of the fruit are sweet and
actively sought by lemurs.
- Fruit closeup showing
- For more photographs and written descriptions (in French and
English) of the Hydnora from Berenty, visit this
page produced by George Williams or the Berenty
- A bud just emerging from the
soil. Near Cordoba, Argentina. Photo by Andrea Coccuci.
- The bud at an early stage
of opening. Only the top parts of the flower emerge from the soil - the
rest remain underground. Near Cordoba, Argentina. Photo by Andrea
- Flower, fully open, showing
the dome-like, fused androecium. Near Cordoba, Argentina. Photo by
- Flower, with androecium
releasing pollen, excavated to show the inferior ovary. Near Cordoba,
Argentina. Photo by Andrea Coccuci.
- Close-up of synandrium.
Lihue Calel, Argentina. 1996? Photo by J. Mauseth
- The strange flower is shown
here emerging from the soil in a field in Argentina. The plant is
parasitic on the roots of Prosopis, a tree in the legume
family. Photo by Lytton Musselman, Argentina.
- Fruit emerging from
the soil. Note the darkened remnants of the perianth at the apex of the
fruit and the circumscissile dehiscence. Photo by Lytton Musselman.
- Fruit excavated to show
circumscissile dehiscence. Photo by Lytton Musselman
- Pilot root with numerous
haustorial roots emerging from it. Those haustorial roots that have
broken off ooze white latex. Photo by Lytton Musselman.
- Prosopanche grows as far north as Bolivia and Peru. This plant was found
emerging from the soil in a garden (parasitic on Solanum) in
Santa Cruz, which occurs in the tropical part of Bolivia. Another photo
showing the a younger open
flower that was partially excavated. Photos May 2003 by Dr. Pierre
- Prosopanche fruits, from the same Bolivian plants shown
above. This slide of a sectioned
fruit shows the white fleshy endocarp pulp surrounding numerous seeds.
Cocucci and Cocucci (1996) estimate 35,000 per fruit!). This slide, shows a close-up of the
pulp being visited by numerous ants. Cocucci and Cocucci suggest that
seed dispersal is endozoochorous, probably involving nocturnal mammals
(rodents, foxes, and armadillos). Although ants clearly visit these
fruits, it has not been documented whether they effectively disperse
the seeds. Photos July 2003 by Dr. Pierre L. Ibisch.
- This Prosopanche
occurs in the Braulio Carrillo National Park near the Quebrada Gonzalez
station, 500 m elevation, Costa Rica. The plant is parasitic on roots
of rain forest trees on the very wet Atlantic slope, quite different
than the habitat of the species growing in Argentina. Although named as
a new species (P. costaricensis L. D. Gómez &
Gómez-Laur.), Coccuci and Coccuci (1996) consider this name a
synonym of P. americana. Photo by B. Hammel.
flowers sectioned. Costa Rica, Limon, Pococi, P.N. Braulio
Carrillo; Llanura de Santa Clara. Barry Hammel, Paul & Hiltje Maas
(No. 18037). Link goes to TROPICOS image library
- Flower attached to root.
Argentina. Photo by L. J. Musselman
- Flower of this species
compared to P. americana (right). Argentina. Photo by L. J.
- Older flower, with perianth
dehiscing and fruit forming. Argentina. Photo by L. J. Musselman
- Young fruit. Argentina.
Photo by L. J. Musselman
- Root connected to host root
(smaller). Argentina. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
F., E. Maass, and L. J. Musselman. 2009. Pollination biology of Hydnora
africana thunb. (Hydnoraceae) in Namibia: brood-site mimicry with
insect imprisonment. Int.
J. Plant Sci. 170:
Hydnora on the cover of
American Journal of Botany. See article by Tennakoon et al. on the
morphology and anatomy of H. triceps, a hypogeous root
holoparasite. AJB 2007, vol.
This family contains two genera, Prosopanche
(S. and C. America), and Hydnora
(Africa and Madagascar). As with Balanophoraceae, Cronquist and
Takhtajan differed in their classifications of this family. Cronquist
placed it in Rosidae in Rafflesiales, Takhtajan in Magnoliidae with
Rafflesianae. Both were incorrect with regard to a relationship
with Rafflesiaceae. Takhtajan was closer in placing the family in
Magnoliidae, for indeed molecular data place Hydnoraceae in
Piperales (Nickrent et al. 2002, pdf HERE).
The most recent analysis (Nickrent 2005, IBC abstract) suggests
Hydnoraceae is most closely related to Aristolochiaceae s. lat.
SIUC / College of Science / Parasitic Plant
Connection / Hydnoraceae
Last updated: 20-Apr-10 / dln