SPeaking of ENDOPARASITES…
Inspired by the last post, I realized I might as well post photos of another, unrelated endoparasite from Chile. Tristerix aphyllus is a member of the tropical mistletoe family, Loranthaceae. Loranthaceae is a really cool family of parasites and hemiparasites that occurs worldwide at lower latitudes. Australia has some really cool members of this family, most notably a tree-sized parasite known as Nuytsia floribunda, known as a christmas parasite because it flowers around Christmas time (the Southern Hemisphere summer). But again, we’re talking endoparasitism here and that’s what makes Tristerix so remarkable. This plant spends 99% of it’s life living inside it’s host, which are cacti in the genera Trichocereus (specifically Trichocereus chiloensis) and Eulychnia). As the flowers are tube-shaped and red, it is obvious that hummingbirds are their main pollinators, which is not surprising because hummingbirds are extremely species-rich in the “new world” (both North and South America). Tristerix is a genus of roughly 14 species, but most are not endoparasites. Further, not only are other species of Tristerix not endoparasites, but they are hemiparasites, meaning they produce leaves with chlorophyll in them and can produce some of their own carbohydrates (food) via photosynthesis (so they are, in effect, only partially parasitic).
