The evolutionary mysteries of a rare parasitic plant https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2025/12/10/evolutionary-mysteries-rare-parasitic-plant

#Balanophora #evolution, metabolic retention in reduced #plastids, and the origins of obligate agamospermy: Petra Svetlikova et al. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70761

"At the base of mossy trees, deep in the mountains of #Taiwan and mainland #Japan or in the subtropical forests of #Okinawa, grows what most might mistake for a mushroom – a very unique plant with some of the smallest flowers and seeds in the world"

#Parasitic plant convinces hosts to grow into its own flesh—it's also an extreme example of genome shrinkage https://phys.org/news/2023-09-parasitic-convinces-hosts-fleshit-extreme.html

#Balanophora #genomes display massively #ConvergentEvolution with other extreme #holoparasites and provide novel insights into parasite–host interactions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01517-7

"unlike some other #ParasiticPlants, Balanophora induces the vascular system of their host plant to grow into a tuber, forming a unique underground organ with mixed host-parasite tissue."

Endangered #Amami rabbit disperses seeds for non-photosynthetic plant https://phys.org/news/2023-01-endangered-amami-rabbit-disperses-seeds.html

Researchers had previously been puzzled about how the seeds of the #Balanophora #plants, with some of the smallest fruits among angiosperms, were dispersed. B. yuwanensis is a host-specific obligate parasite. Efficient seed transportation likely requires the seed to be deposited near the roots of a host. The #AmamiRabbit may facilitate this through digging, defecating underground in burrows.