Hydnora esculenta

Description

Hydnora esculenta is an unmistakable plant - a totally parasitic,perennial that is without any chlorophyll or leaves at all.With its vegetative parts looking more like a fungus,it is one of the strangest plants in the world.Its vegetative plant body is highly reduced and consists of only roots and flowers - it belongs to the only family of angiosperms with no leaves or scales of any sort.Parasitic on the roots of host trees,especially Acacia spp.,it has an underground stem,or pseudo-rhizome,that grows into the host's roots and so extracts food.The plant is only seen when the tips of the flowers push out of the ground - even the fruit develops below the soil surface