Lathraea squamaria: Difference between revisions

It is parasitic on the roots of [[hazel]] and [[alder]], and occasionally other trees, and represents the second occasion on which a member of the [[Orobanchaceae]] family lost the ability to [[photosynthesis|photosynthesize]] and became parasitic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Samigullin |first1=Tahir H. |last2=Logacheva |first2=Maria D. |last3=Penin |first3=Aleksey A. |last4=Vallejo-Roman |first4=Carmen M. |last5=Robinson-Rechavi |first5=Marc |lastauthoramp=yes |year=2016 |title=Complete plastid genome of the recent holoparasite ''Lathraea squamaria'' reveals earliest stages of plastome reduction in Orobanchaceae |journal=PLOS One |volume=11 |issue=3 |page=e0150718 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0150718 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It occurs in shady places such as deciduous woodland and hedge sides. The plant consists of a branched whitish underground stem closely covered with thick, fleshy, colourless [[Leaf|leaves]], which are bent over so as to hide under the surface. The only portions that appear above ground in April to May are the short [[flower]]-bearing shoots, which bear a spike of two-lipped dull purple flowers, but is also able to produce [[Cleistogamy|cleistogamic]] underground flowers which fertilise themselves. It is also able to regenerate from broken fragments of the underground stem.<ref name=Groom>{{cite journal |author=Groom, Percy |year=1897 |title=On the leaves of ''Lathraea Squamaria'' and of some allied Scrophulariaceae |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=11 |issue=43 |pages=385–398 |jstor=43234288 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43234288 }}</ref>