Rhizanthes lowii

Rhizanthes lowii is a species of parasitic flowering plant without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue. It grows on the roots of the Tetrastigma vine. It includes the specimens with the largest measured flowers in Rhizanthes, from 25 to 43 cm across.[3] They are endothermic, not only producing their own heat, but they also have the rare ability to regulate their own temperature.[4]

Rhizanthes lowii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Rafflesiaceae
Genus: Rhizanthes
Species:
R. lowii
Binomial name
Rhizanthes lowii
Synonyms[2]
  • Brugmansia lowii Becc.
  • Mycetanthe lowii (Becc.) Hochr.

Taxonomy

Rhizanthes lowii was originally described by Odoardo Beccari as Brugmansia lowii in 1868, being the second of such Brugmansia species (Brugmansia is now a different genus).[5][6] Bénédict Pierre Georges Hochreutiner recombined the taxon in 1930 to a new genus, Mycetanthe,[7] but Hermann Harms recombined the taxon again in 1934, to give it its present name.[1]

Distribution

It was first collected on a little islet (in a river?) near the Malaysian town of Limbang, almost at the border of Brunei.[5]

Originally, the species was believed to be present in the tropical forests of Borneo, Sumatra, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, but after the 2000 revision of the genus Rhizanthes, the specimens collected in Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia were reinterpreted as two new, different species, on the basis of groups of morphological traits: Rh. deceptor and Rh. infanticida. Thus the species as it is now circumscribed as of 2000 is endemic to Borneo, where it was originally described from.[3] Despite this, the Plants of the World Online database for some reason states the distribution is restricted to Peninsular Malaysia.[2]

It has also been seen as a synonym of Rh. zippelii by some authors, although this interpretation was not followed by most authorities. It is extremely difficult, if not always possible in some cases, to tell the four different species in Rhizanthes apart on the basis of morphology.[3] Even more confusingly, plants of Rh. zippelii have also been identified (and photographed) from western Borneo,[8] with the taxonomic changes, they can now be classified as Rh. lowii, despite looking like Rh. zippelii.[3]

References
  1. "Rhizanthes lowii". International Plant Names Index. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  2. "Rhizanthes lowii (Becc.) Harms". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. Bänziger, Hans; Hansen, Bertel (2000). "A new taxonomic revision of a deceptive flower, Rhizanthes Dumortier (Rafflesiaceae)" (PDF). The Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society: 117–143. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-12.
  4. Patiño, S.; J. Grace; Hans Bänziger (2000). "Endothermy by flowers of Rhizanthes lowii (Rafflesiaceae)". Oecologia. 124 (2): 149–155. Bibcode:2000Oecol.124..149P. doi:10.1007/s004420050001. PMID 28308173.
  5. Beccari, Odoardo (1868). "Descrizione di tre nuove specie de piante Bornensi". Atti della Società italiana di scienze naturali (in Italian). 11: 198. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. "Brugmansia lowii". International Plant Names Index. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. "Mycetanthe lowii". International Plant Names Index. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  8. Coomans de Ruiter, L. (October 1935). "De Eerste Vindplaatsen van Mycetanthe zippelii (Bl.) Hochr. in West-Borneo en verdere aantekeningen over Rafflsia tuan-mudae Becc". De Tropische Natuur (in Dutch). 24 (10): 171–175. Retrieved 31 October 2020.



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