Return to index
Go to next record.
Go to previous record.
Balanophora yakushimensis Hatus. et Masam
Family: BalanophoraceaeEnglish: Balanaphor (sp)
Japanese: ヤクシマツチトリモチ (屋久島土鳥餅) [Yakushima Tsuchitorimochi]
There are three species of parasitic balanophors present on Yakushima. Two of them look quite similar at a glance: Balanophora japonica has yellow flowers and feeds off the roots of trees in the Symplocos family. Balanophora yakushimensis has red flowers and feeds off the roots of Distylium racemosum. The flowers are usually hidden underneath the red spadicles, so look around to see what trees are present in the area. Once you have seen them both, subtle differences in shape and color will become more apparent, but—considering they all seem to be female—I suppose one has to expect a bit of intraspecies variation also exists. Near the end of the season, there are often flowers that have fallen apart and are easy to inspect with a magnifying glass.
For a good description see Huei-Jiun et al.
References:
[Huei-Jiun Su, Jin Murata, Jer-Ming Hu. Morphology and phylogenetics of two holoparasitic plants, Balanophora japonica and Balanophora yakushimensis (Balanophoraceae), and their hosts in Taiwan and Japan. J Plant REs (2012) 125:317-326.
米倉浩司・梶田忠 (2003-) 「BG Plants 和名-学名インデックス」(YList),http://ylist.info( 2019年8月14日)
新版 屋久島の植物 川原勝征,初島住彦(監修),2001:南方新社