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Triphysaria

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Triphysaria
Triphysaria eriantha
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Tribe: Pedicularideae
Genus: Triphysaria
Fisch. & C.A. Mey.
Species

5, see text

Triphysaria is a genus of five plants in the family Orobanchaceae, commonly known as owl's-clovers.[1] This genus is closely related to the genera Castilleja and Orthocarpus. Triphysaria species are native to western North America, including one species that is endemic to California.

Description

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These plants, like those in many other genera of the family, are facultative hemiparasites on other plants. They produce haustoria that tap into the roots of other plants to extract some of the nutrients they need.

The plants bear spike inflorescences of pouched, folded flowers that have lips shaped like the beak of an owl.

While the plants contain their own chlorophyll and are able to undergo photosynthesis, this process is limited. Without host plants, the species cannot flourish as greatly.[2]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ NRCS. "Triphysaria". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  2. ^ Marvier, Michelle A. (1998). "Parasite Impacts on Host Communities: Plant Parasitism in a California Coastal Prairie". Ecology. 79 (8): 2616–2623. Bibcode:1998Ecol...79.2616M. doi:10.2307/176505. ISSN 0012-9658. JSTOR 176505.
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Further reading

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  • Yoder, J. I. and D. S. Jamison. (2001). Heritable variation in quinone-induced haustorium development in the parasitic plant Triphysaria. Plant Physiology 125 1870
  • Torres M. J., Tomilov A. A., Tomilova N., Reagan R. L., Yoder J. I. 2005. Pscroph, a parasitic plant EST database enriched for parasite associated transcripts BMC Plant Biology 5:24 (16 November 2005)