A specialized avian seed dispersal system in a dry-fruited non-photosynthetic plant, Balanophora yakushimensis.
The family Balanophoraceae are among the most unusual of plants because they have aberrant vegetative bodies, highly reduced flowers, and small and reduced embryos (Hansen 1972, Gonzalez et al. 2019). Because the plants lack chlorophyll and are incapable of photosynthesis, they draw nutrition from other organisms. Indeed, like the well-known parasitic plant, Rafflesia, members of the Balanophoraceae acquire both water and nutrients from host plants. They are, therefore, highly specialized root parasites.