Cytinus hypocistis

Cytinus hypocistis
	C. hypocistis growing under a bush in leaf litter, near Fréjus in the south of France
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Cytinaceae
Genus:	Cytinus
Species:	C. hypocistis
Binomial name
	Cytinus hypocistis; (L.) L.
Subspecies
	Cytinus hypocistis subsp. hypocistis (autonym); C. h. subsp. macranthus Wettst.; C. h. subsp. orientalis Wettst.; C. h. subsp. pityusensis Finschow;
Synonyms
	Asarum hypocistis L. (basionym);

Cytinus hypocistis is an ant-pollinated^[4] species of obligate^[5] parasitic plant in the family Cytinaceae having four subspecies, which is parasitic on Cistus (rock-rose) species. It is found primarily in locations that surround the Mediterranean Sea,^[6] and is the type for the genus Cytinus.^[7] The binomial has been conserved.^[7]

Description

Cytinus hypocistis is an endophytic root holoparasite that has no chlorophyll, external roots, leaves, or stems.^[5] It is a perennial that spends most of its life completely inside the root tissue of its host, and the flowers of Cytinus hypocistis are the only component of the parasite that can be seen emerging from the host root during their reproductive season.^[5] The sweet smelling inflorescence above ground is visited by many species of ants that pollinate it.^[4]

Distribution

Cytinus hypocistis is native to Albania; Algeria; Crete; Croatia; Cyprus; Greece; France (including Corsica); Palestine; Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily); Lebanon; Libya; Malta; Morocco; Portugal; Spain (including both the Balearic and Canary Islands); Syria; Tunisia; and Turkey.^[6]

The subspecies C. h. subsp. macranthus is native to Portugal and western Spain; C. h. subsp. orientalis is native to southern Greece and Crete; and C. h. subsp. pityusensis is endemic to Ibiza of the Balearic Islands.^[2]

Habitat

Cytinus hypocistis lives within the roots of its host and relies on the rock-roses it infests as a source of water and nutrients.^[5] As a result of feeding on the nutrients of the host plant, Cytinus hypocistis has a negative impact on productivity, seed viability, and overall reproductive ability in the white rockroses (Cistus albidus) that it parasitizes.^[8]

Tenebrionid beetles (Pimelia costata) disperse the seeds of Cytinus hypocistis by ingesting them and then excreting them in favourable underground germination sites.^[9]

Uses

Cytinus hypocistis has been used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery and tumors of the throat, and has been used for its astringent qualities.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Under its currently accepted binomial (Cytinus hyocistis), from its basionym (Asarum hypocistis), this species was first published in Genera Plantarum Eorumque Characteres Naturales Secundum Numerum, Figuram, Situm, & Proportionem Omnium Fructificationis Partium. (Ed. 6). Stockholm. 6. 576 ["566"]. 1764. "Plant Name Details for Cytinus hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Flora Europaea Search Results for hypocistis and Cytinus". Flora Europaea. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved November 15, 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ This species, originally as Asarum hypocistis, was first described and published in Species Plantarum 1: 442. 1753. "Plant Name Details for Asarum hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Clara de Vega; Montserrat Arista; Pedro L. Ortiz; Carlos M. Herrera; Salvador Talavera (May 2009). "The ant-pollination system of Cytinus hypocistis (Cytinaceae), a Mediterranean root holoparasite". Annals of Botany. 103 (7): 1065–1075. doi:10.1093/aob/mcp049. PMC 2707910. PMID 19258337.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d De Vega, Clara; Ortiz, Pedro Luis; Arista, Montserrat; Talavera, Salvador (2007-11-01). "The Endophytic System of Mediterranean Cytinus (Cytinaceae) Developing on Five Host Cistaceae Species". Annals of Botany. 100 (6): 1209–1217. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm217. ISSN 0305-7364. PMC 2759266. PMID 17804607.
^ ^a ^b "Cytinus hypocistis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Name - !Cytinus L." Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 15, 2012. T: Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L.; annotation: nom. cons.
^ Sánchez-Ordóñez, Nerea; Julián, Clara; Jené, Laia; Pintó-Marijuan, Marta; Munné-Bosch, Sergi (2025-06-01). "Influence of Cytinus hypocistis parasitism on fruit and seed production in the mediterranean shrub Cistus albidus". Journal of Arid Environments. 228: 105338. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105338. ISSN 0140-1963.
^ de Vega, Clara; Arista, Montserrat; Ortiz, Pedro L.; Herrera, Carlos M.; Talavera, Salvador (2011-04-01). "Endozoochory by beetles: a novel seed dispersal mechanism". Annals of Botany. 107 (4): 629–637. doi:10.1093/aob/mcr013. ISSN 0305-7364. PMC 3064545. PMID 21303784.
^ James A. Duke. "Cytinus hypocistis (RAFFLESIACEAE)". Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

External links

"Cytinus hypocistus". Plants for a Future.

This Malvales-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[ipni1-1] Under its currently accepted binomial (Cytinus hyocistis), from its basionym (Asarum hypocistis), this species was first published in Genera Plantarum Eorumque Characteres Naturales Secundum Numerum, Figuram, Situm, & Proportionem Omnium Fructificationis Partium. (Ed. 6). Stockholm. 6. 576 ["566"]. 1764. "Plant Name Details for Cytinus hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

[rbge-2] "Flora Europaea Search Results for hypocistis and Cytinus". Flora Europaea. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved November 15, 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}

[ipni2-3] This species, originally as Asarum hypocistis, was first described and published in Species Plantarum 1: 442. 1753. "Plant Name Details for Asarum hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

[ab-4] Clara de Vega; Montserrat Arista; Pedro L. Ortiz; Carlos M. Herrera; Salvador Talavera (May 2009). "The ant-pollination system of Cytinus hypocistis (Cytinaceae), a Mediterranean root holoparasite". Annals of Botany. 103 (7): 1065–1075. doi:10.1093/aob/mcp049. PMC 2707910. PMID 19258337.

[:0-5] De Vega, Clara; Ortiz, Pedro Luis; Arista, Montserrat; Talavera, Salvador (2007-11-01). "The Endophytic System of Mediterranean Cytinus (Cytinaceae) Developing on Five Host Cistaceae Species". Annals of Botany. 100 (6): 1209–1217. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm217. ISSN 0305-7364. PMC 2759266. PMID 17804607.

[grin-6] "Cytinus hypocistis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

[trop-7] "Name - !Cytinus L." Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 15, 2012. T: Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L.; annotation: nom. cons.

[8] Sánchez-Ordóñez, Nerea; Julián, Clara; Jené, Laia; Pintó-Marijuan, Marta; Munné-Bosch, Sergi (2025-06-01). "Influence of Cytinus hypocistis parasitism on fruit and seed production in the mediterranean shrub Cistus albidus". Journal of Arid Environments. 228: 105338. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105338. ISSN 0140-1963.

[9] Vega, Clara; Arista, Montserrat; Ortiz, Pedro L.; Herrera, Carlos M.; Talavera, Salvador (2011-04-01). "Endozoochory by beetles: a novel seed dispersal mechanism". Annals of Botany. 107 (4): 629–637. doi:10.1093/aob/mcr013. ISSN 0305-7364. PMC 3064545. PMID 21303784.

[jad-10] James A. Duke. "Cytinus hypocistis (RAFFLESIACEAE)". Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

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