Comandra

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Santalaceae
Genus: Comandra
Nutt.
Species:
C. umbellata
Binomial name
Comandra umbellata
(L.) Nutt.
Synonyms
  • Comandra richardsiana Fern.
  • Thesium umbellatum L.
  • Comandra umbellata subsp. elegans (Rochel ex Rchb.) Piehl
  • Comandra elegans (Rochel ex Rchb.) Rchb. f, 1849[1][2]
  • Comandra pallida A. DC.

Comandra is a monotypic genus[3] containing the single species Comandra umbellata. Its common names include bastard toadflax, umbellate bastard toadflax, and common comandra.[4] The plant has a disjunct distribution;[3] its four subspecies occur in North America and the Mediterranean.[5]

Description

Comandra is a perennial herb growing from rhizomes, often in drier or semi-sandy soils,[6] to about 8 to 34 centimetres (3+1⁄4 to 13+1⁄2 in) tall. The leaves are up to 3.3 cm long and are alternately arranged. Growing in flat or roundish clusters, the flowers lack petals, but have five greenish-white sepals.[6] The flowers contain both male and female structures, and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a drupe 4–6 mm thick.[7][8]

Subspecies include:[9]

  • Comandra umbellata subsp. californica – California bastard toadflax
  • Comandra umbellata subsp. pallida – pale bastard toadflax, pine bastard toadflax
  • Comandra umbellata subsp. umbellata

Comandra umbellata is hemiparasitic; it is not holoparasitic as it obtains some nutrition through photosynthesis.[10] It has a wide host range, parasitizing over 200 known plant species.[7] These include: Acer, Antennaria, Aster, Betula, Carex, Solidago, Fragaria, Populus, Quercus, Rosa, Rubus, Vaccinium and some grasses.[10][8]

In Europe the common English name bastard toadflax is used for plants of the genus Thesium.

Pathogens

Comandra umbellata is the alternate host for the comandra blister rust (Cronartium comandrae), a rust fungus that affects pine species in North America. Comandra blister rust can cause tree losses of up to 7% in some regions where it is common.[11]

When C. umbellata is infected by the rust aeciospores from the pine host, yellow, blister-like spots bearing urediniospores appear on the leaves of the plant within 20 days. In the following weeks, teliospores develop on brown, hairlike telia that germinate to produce basidiospores, the fungal life stage capable of infecting pines.[12]

Uses

A decoction of the plant parts was made by the Navajo people for narcotic and other medicinal usage. In times of food shortage, the berries were used by Native Americans as a food source,[13] and though small, they have a sweet taste.[14] The fruit may contain toxic selenium if grown in soil rich in the element.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Reichenbach, Heinrich Gustav, Icones florae germanicae et helveticae 11: 11. 1849.
  2. ↑ Comandra elegans at Tropicos
  3. 1 2 Der, J. P.; Nickrent, D. L. (2008). "A molecular phylogeny of Santalaceae (Santalales)" (PDF). Systematic Botany. 33 (1): 107–16. doi:10.1600/036364408783887438. S2CID 85999681.
  4. ↑ Comandra umbellata. NatureServe. 2012.
  5. ↑ Mabberley, D. J. (2000). The Plant Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  6. 1 2 3 Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 128. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
  7. 1 2 Comandra umbellata. Arches National Park, Utah. United States National Park Service.
  8. 1 2 Rhoads, Ann; Block, Timothy (2007-08-08). The Plants of Pennsylvania (2nd ed.). Philadelphia Pa: University of Pennsylvania press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4003-0.
  9. ↑ Comandra umbellata. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  10. 1 2 Moss, E. H. (1926). "Parasitism in the genus Comandra". New Phytologist. 25 (4): 264–276. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1926.tb06695.x. JSTOR 2428127.
  11. ↑ Woods, A. J.; et al. (2000). "Predicted impacts of hard pine stem rusts on lodgepole pine dominated stands in central British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 30 (3): 476–481. doi:10.1139/cjfr-30-3-476.
  12. ↑ Johnson, D. W. (1986). "Comandra Blister Rust". Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet. 62.
  13. ↑ Betty B. Derig & Margaret C. Fuller (2001). Wild Berries of the West. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-87842-433-7.
  14. ↑ "Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata)". Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
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