page_title: Parasitic plant
section_title: Importance
hierarchical_section_title: Parasitic plant / Importance
context_page_description: A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirement from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants have modified roots, called haustoria, which penetrate the host plant, connecting them to the conductive system – either the xylem, the phloem, or both. For example, plants like Striga or Rhinanthus connect only to the xylem, via xylem bridges. Alternately, plants like Cuscuta and Orobanche connect only to the phloem of the host. This provides them with the ability to extract water and nutrients from the host. Parasitic plants are classified depending as to the location where the parasitic plant latches onto the host and the amount of nutrients it requires. Some parasitic plants are able to locate their host plants by detecting chemicals in the air or soil given off by host shoots or roots, respectively. About 4,500 species of parasitic plant in approximately 20 families of flowering plants are known.
context_section_description: Species within Orobanchaceae are some of the most economically destructive species on Earth. Species of Striga alone are estimated to cost billions of dollars a year in crop yield loss annually, infesting over 50 million hectares of cultivated land within sub-Saharan Africa alone. Striga can infest both grasses and grains, including corn, rice and Sorghum, undoubtedly some of the most important food crops. Orobanche also threatens a wide range of important crops, including peas, chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and varieties of the genus Brassica (e.g. cabbage and broccoli). Yield loss from Orobanche can reach 100% and has caused farmers in some regions of the world to abandon certain staple crops and begin importing others as an alternative. Much research has been devoted to the control of Orobanche and Striga species, which are even more devastating in developing areas of the world, though no method has been found to be entirely successful.
  Mistletoes cause economic damage to forest and ornamental trees.
  Rafflesia arnoldii produces the world's largest flowers at about one meter in diameter. It is a tourist attraction in its native habitat.
  Sandalwood trees (Santalum species) have many important cultural uses and their fragrant oils have high commercial value.
  Indian paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia) is the state flower of Wyoming.
  The oak mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum) is the floral emblem of Oklahoma.
  A few other parasitic plants are occasionally cultivated for their attractive flowers, such as Nuytsia and broomrape.
  Parasitic plants are important in research, especially on the loss of photosynthesis and the co-dependency of functional, genetic and lifestyle changes. 
  A few dozen parasitic plants have occasionally been used as food by people.
  Western Australian Christmas tree (Nuytsia floribunda) sometimes damages underground cables. It mistakes the cables for host roots and tries to parasitize them using its sclerenchymatic guillotine.
  
  Some parasitic plants are destructive while some have positive influences in their communities. Some parasitic plants damage invasive species more than native species. This results in the reduced damage of invasive species in the community.
  In many regions, including the Nepal Eastern Himalayas, parasitic plants are used for medicinal and ritual purposes.
caption: Newly emergent snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), a flowering plant parasitic on mycorrhizal fungi
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