It has white flowers, but a covetous heart

It has white flowers, but a covetous heart

Context

• Scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic flowering plant, Gleadovia konyakianorum,  that has no chlorophyll, and survives by feeding on another species of plant.

Gleadovia konyakianorum

• The species Gleadovia konyakianorum, is named so in honour of the Konyak tribe of Nagas.
• It was identified during a botanical exploration earlier this year near Tobu town of Mon district in eastern Nagaland.
• It is a holoparasite [complete parasite] that derives its entire nutritional requirement from the host plant, which is a Strobilanthes species.
• The plant was found in the semi-evergreen forest at an altitude of 1,500-1,600 metres. The details of the newly discovered species was published in the journal Phytotaxa.
• Though the plant has no chlorophyll, the plant has a vascular system and extracts its nutrition from the host plant with the help of a haustorium.

What is a haustorium?

• A haustorium is a specialized structure with which plant parasites attach themselves to the tissue of host plants and derive nutrition.

Specifications

• Gleadovia konyakianorum is a root parasite that grows up to 10 cm in height, and bears white, tubular flowers.
• Gleadovia konyakianorum  is only the fourth species from the genus Gleadovia to be found in the world. The other three are Gleadovia banerjiana (discovered in Manipur), Gleadovia mupinense (found in China) and Gleadovia ruborum (discovered in Uttarakhand and also reported from China).
• The white flowering parasite was found in a group of 15-20 plants, and since the species hasn’t been reported anywhere else, scientists have described its status as ‘data deficient’ as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species Criteria.
• Plant parasites are differentiated as stem and root parasites. Common stem parasites found in India are Loranthus sp, on Mango trees, and Cuscuta reflexa, a climber. Among the root parasites are Sapria himalayana, a rare holoparasitic flowering plant found in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.