Balanophora fungosa

Description

Like other members of its genus, B. fungosa is holoparasitic and contains no chlorophyll.The aerial parts of the plant consist of a hard, irregularly shaped tuber from which the flower-bearing structures extend. The leaves are scale-like, pale cream in colour, 8-30 millimetres (0.3-1 in) long, 7-20 millimetres (0.3-0.8 in) wide and more or less stem clasping.The plant is monoecious, bearing both pistillate (female) and staminate (male) flowers. Thousands of minute female flowers cover a globe-shaped structure 15-20 millimetres (0.6-0.8 in) in diameter. The styles are less than 1 millimetre (0.04 in) long. About 20 male flowers are arranged around the base of the globe, each about 3-5 millimetres (0.1-0.2 in) in diameter with a pedicel about 5-6 millimetres (0.20-0.24 in) and are covered with powdery white pollen.