BALANOPHORACEAE
Morphological description
Herbaceous root parasites, without chlorophyll or roots.
Leaves
Leaves, if present, scaly.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence unbranched spadix.
Flowers
Flower minute, unisexual, dioecious.
Different from: Rafflesiaceae: stem parasites, flowers large.
Distribution: The family pantropical, in Malesia 4 genera, all of (montane) rain forest. The largest genus is Balanophora, widespread especially in montane rain forest.
Notes: Next to nothing is known about pollination and dispersal.
Literature: B. Hansen, Fl. Males. I, 7 (1976) 783-805.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): Balanophoraceae 8, 92 - Balanophora 7, 11, 79 - Exorhopala 7, 11 - Langsdorffia 7, 11 - Rhopalocnemis 7, 11.
Illustrations: Fig. 26. Balanophora elongata Blume var. elongata (Balanophoraceae). Habit of female specimen (left) and habit of male specimen (right). Reproduced from Flora Malesiana I, 7 (1976) 797, fig. 12a, b. 46.
Images in PhytoImages for Balanophoraceae.