Section through a secondary haustorium of Pedicularis palustris Parasitic flowering plants develop haustoria, which actively penetrate the tissue of host plants for nutritional purposes. The general structure of such a haustorium is shown on this picture. The body of the haustorium consists of parenchymatic ground tissue and a central vascular tissue. The vascular tissue builds the link between the two central cylinders of parasite (in cross section, above) and host root (in longitudinal section, below).
General and specific information are given in the textbook Weber (1993): Parasitismus von Blütenpflanzen, Wissenschaftl. Buchges., Darmstadt (UB Marburg: Biol 270, Bibl. Fb Biologie: G 860:9)
Last revised on 3rd of December 2002 by Stephan Imhof, Email: imhof@staff.uni-marburg.de