Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Bastard toad flax

(Comandra umbellata umbellata)

galery
en

Description

Comandra is a perennial herb growing about 8 to 34 cm tall. The leaves are up to 3.3 cm long and are alternately arranged. The flowers lack petals, but have five greenish-white sepals; the flowers are perfect, containing both male and female structures. The flowers are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a drupe 4-6mm thick. It prefers to grow in drier soils.C. umbellata is hemiparasitic; it is not holoparasitic as it obtains some nutrition through photosynthesis. It has a wide host range, parasitizing over 200 known plant species. These include: Acer, Antennaria, Aster, Betula, Carex, Solidago, Fragaria, Populus, oaks, Rosa, Rubus, Vaccinium and some grasses.In Europe the common English name bastard toadflax is used for plants of the genus Thesium.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Santalales
Family:Santalaceae
Genus:Comandra
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