EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Parasitic plants use a structure called a haustorium to penetrate their host plant. This specialised organ forms a connection between the two plants, which they use to drain nutrition.

Detailed explanation-2: -parasitic plant, plant that obtains all or part of its nutrition from another plant (the host) without contributing to the benefit of the host and, in some cases, causing extreme damage to the host.

Detailed explanation-3: -Plants usually considered holoparasites include broomrape, dodder, Rafflesia, and the Hydnoraceae. Plants usually considered hemiparasites include Castilleja, mistletoe, Western Australian Christmas tree, and yellow rattle.

Detailed explanation-4: -A parasitic relationship is one in which one organism, the parasite, lives off of another organism, the host, harming it and possibly causing death. The parasite lives on or in the body of the host. A few examples of parasites are tapeworms, fleas, and barnacles.

Detailed explanation-5: -Here we define a parasitic plant as an angiosperm (flowering plant) that directly attaches to another plant via a haustorium. A haustorium is a specialized structure that forms a morphological and physiological link between the parasite and host (Figure 2) (Kuijt 1969, Yoshida et al. 2016).