Home
Annual, erect, saprophytic herbs; stem simple or branched, 3-to many-flowered, mostly bearing a terminal, double cincinnus; leaves sessile, small, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, scale-like; flowers sessile or shortly pedicellate; perianth con-sisting of a tubular part and a 6-lobed limb, the outer lobes ovate, much larger than the inner; stamens 3, inserted below the inner perianth lobes; anthers sessile, the connective rather broad, exappendiculate or mucronulate, the thecae bursting with a median, horizontal slit; ovary ovoid or nearly globose; placentas 3, parietal, each bearing at both sides of the top a large, globose gland; ovules many, small, the funicles shorter than the ovules; style reaching the insertion of the stamens and branching into 3 short branches, each bearing a stigma which is often ap-pendiculate; perianth limb deciduous below the insertion of the stamens after flowering, the upper part of the style also deciduous with the stamens; perianth tube persistent on the capsule; capsule dehiscing at the top in the Asiatic species, or irregularly in longitudinal direction with 3 clefts between the placentas in the American and African species.
Herbs, annual, without chlorophyll, mycotrophic, rhizomatous. Stems simple or branched. Leaves cauline, bractlike, small. Inflorescences terminal, racemes or flower solitary. Perianth tube actinomorphic, salverform, lateral wings absent, without annulus at mouth; tepals 6, apically distinct; outer tepals larger than inner, slightly 3-lobed; inner tepals very small. Stamens 3, sessile on perianth tube; connectives generally not appendaged. Ovary ovoid to globose, 1-loculed, with 3 parietal placentae; placentae each with a large globose gland at both sides of apex; stigmas 3, often appendiculate. Fruit capsular, perianth caducous but perianth base persistent; dehiscence generally irregular or by longitudinal slits.
Saprophytic annuals, without chlorophyll. Leaves scale-like. Perianth limb consisting of 6 lobes, the 3 outer being much larger and slightly 3-lobed. Anthers 3, sessile in the throat. Thecae bursting horizontally. Ovary ovoid to globose, 1-celled with 3 parietal placentas, each placenta provided with a large, globose gland at both sides of the top. Style filiform, branching into 3 short branches, each bearing a stigma. Perianth limb, stamens and the upper part of style with the stigmas caducous after flowering. Capsule crowned by the persistent perianth tube. Seeds ovoid to globose, reticulate.
