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Balanophora fungosa J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.

Species

Angiosperms > Santalales > Balanophoraceae > Balanophora

Characteristics

Plants monoecious or rarely dioecious. Rhizome yellowish brown, unbranched or in a mass, surface with granular warts and scattered yellow stellate lenticels; branches subglobose, depressed, ca. 1.5 × 2.5 cm. Scapes pink, reddish orange, or occasionally yellowish, 3-8 × 0.6-1.5 cm at anthesis, to 12 cm in fruit. Leaves 15-30, spirally arranged or rarely opposite, imbricate, broadly ovate, 1-1.5 × 1.5-1.7 cm, apex obtuse. Inflorescences ellipsoid, ovoid, or conically ovoid, 1-3 × 1-2 cm. Male flowers: basally on androgynous inflorescences, actinomorphic, subtended by short rudimentary bracts. Pedicel 4-5 mm. Perianth lobes 4 or 5, ovate-elliptic, apex acute. Synandria subglobose, stipe 0.5-1 mm; anthers 4 or 5, U-shaped. Spadicles subclavate, apical 1/2 ellipsoid; cuticular ridges of apical cells short but distinct and congested. Female flowers: yellowish, basally on spadicles and main axis of inflorescence. Fl. Dec.
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Plant monoecious or dioecious, yellow, orange-yellow, yellow-brown or pink, to c. 20 cm long, root parasite. Leaves 10–35, alternate, imbricate, irregularly shaped, mostly ovate or obovate, obtuse, slightly cucullate, 1–3 cm long, 1–2 cm wide. Inflorescence unisexual or bisexual, monoecious plants with female flowers above males. Male flowers pedicellate, actinomorphic, 3–6-merous; tepals to 7 mm long; anthers horseshoe-shaped. Female flowers with spadicles obconical or stalked obconical to obovoid; carpels to 0.5 mm long; styles to 1.5 mm long.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support parasite
Foliage retention -
Sexuality
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.12
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Evergreen rainforests at elevations up to 2,600 metres.
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Rainforest, monsoon forest.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Used in traditional medicine.
Uses material medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Hemorrhoids (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Balanophora fungosa unspecified picture

Distribution

Balanophora fungosa world distribution map, present in Australia, China, Fiji, Micronesia (Federated States of), Indonesia, India, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Northern Mariana Islands, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, Viet Nam, and Vanuatu

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:103250-1
WFO ID wfo-0000558654
COL ID KFX4
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 672306
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Balanophora fungosa Balanophora forsteri Balanophora micholitzii Cynomorium fungosum Cynomorium australe Cynomorium balanophora Cynomorium parasiticum Cynomorium philippense Balanophora fungosa f. extratropica Balanophora kuroiwai Balanophora mariannae Balanophora fungosa var. mariannae Balanophora fungosa var. kuroiwai

Lower taxons

Balanophora fungosa var. globosa Balanophora fungosa subsp. indica Balanophora fungosa var. minor
WorldFloraDB 2024