Home / Ecology & Palaeoenvironment / Epiphytic and Parasitic Plants

T.J. Barkman et al. (2007): Mitochondrial DNA suggests at least 11 origins of parasitism in angiosperms and reveals genomic chimerism in parasitic plants. Open access, BMC Evolutionary Biology, 7: 248.

! M.I. Bidartondo et al. (2011): The dawn of symbiosis between plants and fungi. In PDF, Biology Letters. See also here.

Sarah Jane Biddiscombe, University of Exeter: Epiphytes and their contribution to canopy diversity. In PDF.

A.C. Bippus et al. (2019): Fossil fern rhizomes as a model system for exploring epiphyte community structure across geologic time: evidence from Patagonia. Open access, PeerJ., 7: e8244.

B.B. Blaimer et al. (2023): Key innovations and the diversification of Hymenoptera. Free access, Nature Communications, 14.
See also here.
Note figure 1: Family-level phylogeny of Hymenoptera.
Figure 2: Timeline and evolution of parasitoidismin Hymenoptera.

The Botanical Society of America:
! Parasitic Plants.

H.J. Bouwmeester et al. (2007): Rhizosphere communication of plants, parasitic plants and AM fungi. In PDF. Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M.C. Brundrett (2002): Coevolution of roots and mycorrhizas of land plants. In PDF, New phytologist, 154: 275-304. This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Mark Brundrett , CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products: The Mycorrhiza Site. Introduction to mycorrhizal associations, structure and development or roots and mycorrhizas. Chiefly information about Australian plants and fungi. See also:
The older webpage.
Books and cited references.
and Text books on mycorrhizas.
These expired links are available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Mark Brundrett , CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products: Roots. An introduction to the root structures which influence mycorrhizal fungi. Including root systems and root growth.
This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! R.J. Burnham (2009): An overview of the fossil record of climbers: bejucos, sogas, trepadoras, lianas, cipós, and vines. PDF file, Rev. bras. paleontol., 12: 149-160.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! R. Cenci and K. Adami-Rodrigues (2017): Record of gall abundance as a possible episode of radiation and speciation of galling insects, Triassic, Southern Brazil. In PDF, Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 20: 279-286.
See also here and there.

! P. Cennamo et al. (2014): Epiphytic Diatom Communities on Sub-Fossil Leaves of Posidonia oceanica Delile in the Graeco-Roman Harbor of Neapolis: A Tool to Explore the Past. In PDF, American Journal of Plant Sciences, 5: 549-553.

S.N. Césari et al. (2021): Nurse logs: An ecological strategy in a late Paleozoic forest from the southern Andean region. In PDF, Geology, 38: 295-298.
See also here.
"... Decaying logs on the forest floor can act as “nurse logs” for new seedlings, helping with the regeneration of the vegetation.
[...] Little rootlets preserved inside the wood of several specimens indicate that seedlings developed on these logs. ..."

A. Channing and D.E. Wujek (2010): Preservation of protists within decaying plants from geothermally influenced wetlands of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States. PDF file, Palaios, 25: 347-355.
See also here.

K. De Baets et al. (2021): Phanerozoic parasitism and marine metazoan diversity: dilution versus amplification. Free access, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 376: 20200366.

K. De Baets et al. (2021): The fossil record of parasitism: Its extent and taphonomic constraints. In PDF, The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism, pp. 1-50. See also here.

K. De Baets and D.T.J. Littlewood (2015): The Importance of Fossils in Understanding the Evolution of Parasites and Their Vectors. Advances in Parasitology, 90: 1–51. ! See also here (in PDF).

A.-L. Decombeix et al. (2020): A Permian nurse log and evidence for facilitation in high-latitude Glossopteris forests. In PDF, Lethaia, 54: 96-105.
See also here.

A.-L. Decombeix et al. (2011): Root suckering in a Triassic conifer from Antarctica: Paleoecological and evolutionary implications. In PDF, American Journal of Botany, 98: 1222-1225. See also here (abstract).

C. de Vega et al. (2011): Mycorrhizal fungi and parasitic plants: Reply. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 98: 597-601.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2006): Paleoecology of Late Paleozoic pteridosperms from tropical Euramerica. In PDF, The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 133: 83-118. See also here.

J.Y. Dubuisson et al. (2009): Epiphytism in ferns: diversity and history. In PDF, Comptes rendus biologies. See also here (abstract).

C.T. Faulkner (2014): A Retrospective Examination of Paleoparasitology and its Establishment in the Journal of Parasitology. In PDF, Papers in Natural Resources, 402.

T.S. Feild and T.J. Brodribb (2005): A unique mode of parasitism in the conifer coral tree Parasitaxus ustus (Podocarpaceae). Free access, Plant, Cell and Environment, 28: 1316–1325.

Z. Feng et al. (2022): Nurse logs: A common seedling strategy in the Permian Cathaysian Flora. In PDF, iScience, 25.
See also here.
"... We report seven coniferous nurse logs from lowermost to uppermost Permian strata of northern China that have been colonized by conifer and sphenophyllalean roots. These roots are associated with two types of arthropod coprolites and fungal remains. ..."

! K.J. Field and S. Pressel (2018): Unity in diversity: structural and functional insights into the ancient partnerships between plants and fungi. In PDF, New Phytologist. See also here

! P.R. Hardoim et al. (2015): The hidden world within plants: ecological and evolutionary considerations for defining functioning of microbial endophytes. In PDF, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. See also here.

C.J. Harper (2015), Ameghiniana 52: Review of Fossil Fungi. Thomas N. Taylor, Michael Krings, Edith L. Taylor. 2015, 382 p. Academic Press, London, UK.
See also here (Google books).

! S. Hongsanan et al. (2016): The evolution of fungal epiphytes. In PDF, Mycosphere, 7: 1690–1712.
See also here.

W. Huang et al. (2024): The First Macrofossil Record of Parasitic Plant Flowers from an Eocene Baltic Amber. Open access, Helyon, 10.
"... we report a fossil corolla and stamens of a probable schoepfiaceous flower (Schoepfiaceae, Santalales) from late Eocene (37.8–33.9 Ma ago) of Kaliningrad, Russia ..."

N.A. Jud et al. (2024): Anatomy of a fossil liana from the Upper Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada. IAWA Journal.
See here as well.

N.A. Jud et al. (2021): Correction: Climbing since the early Miocene: The fossil record of Paullinieae (Sapindaceae). Open access, PLoS ONE, pone.0251127.
N.A. Jud et al. (2021): Climbing since the early Miocene: The fossil record of Paullinieae (Sapindaceae). Open access, PLoS ONE 16: e0248369. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0248369.

H. Kreft et al. (2004): Diversity and biogeography of vascular epiphytes in Western Amazonia, Yasuní, Ecuador. In PDF, Journal of Biogeography, 31: 1463-1476.

M. Krings et al. (2011): The fossil record of the Peronosporomycetes (Oomycota). In PDF, Mycologia, 103: 445-457.

! M. Krings et al. (2003): How Paleozoic vines and lianas got off the ground: on scrambling and climbing Carboniferous-early Permian pteridosperms. In PDF, The Botanical Review, 69: 204–224.
See also here.

! C.C. Labandeira and L. Li (2021): The History of Insect Parasitism and the Mid-Mesozoic Parasitoid Revolution. Abstract, The Evolution and Fossil Record Of Parasitism, p. 377-533. See also here (in PDF).

! M.A.K. Lalica and A.M.F. Tomescu (2021): The early fossil record of glomeromycete fungi: New data on spores associated with early tracheophytes in the Lower Devonian (Emsian; c. 400 Ma) of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here.
"... occurrence in fluvial-coastal environments and their putative mycorrhizal role suggest that glomeromycetes were relatively ubiquitous symbionts of tracheophytes, ..."

T.L.F. Leung (2015): Fossils of parasites: what can the fossil record tell us about the evolution of parasitism? In PDF, Biol. Rev. See also here (abstract).

F.-Y. Li et al. (2024): Arthropod coprolites and wound reaction in the late Paleozoic climbing fern Hansopteris. Free access, Palaeoentomology, 7: 628–637. DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.5.6 .
"... Interactions between arthropods and plants have been documented extensively in late Paleozoic trees and ground cover plants, but they have rarely been recorded in late Paleozoic climbers
[...] This discovery provides an informative example of arthropod herbivory on late Paleozoic climbers and sheds light on how the host plant responded during the early stage of injury ..."

F.-W. Li et al. (2018): Fern genomes elucidate land plant evolution and cyanobacterial symbioses. Open access, Nature Plants, 4: 460–472.

N.P. Maslova et al. (2021): Recent Studies of Co-Evolutionary Relationships of Fossil Plants and Fungi: Success, Problems, Prospects. In PDF, Paleontological Journal, 55: 1–17. See also here.

N.P. Maslova et al. (2016): Phytopathology in fossil plants: New data, questions of classification. In PDF, Paleontological Journal, 50: 202–208.

! B.J.W. Mills et al. (2017): Nutrient acquisition by symbiotic fungi governs Palaeozoic climate transition. Open access, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373.

D.L. Nickrent (2020): Parasitic angiosperms: How often and how many? Free access, Taxon.

D.L. Nickrent (2008): Parasitic Plants. Pp. 251-253 in McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology. Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! D.L. Nickrent (2002): Parasitic plants of the world. In: J.A. Lopez-Saez, P. Catalan and L. Saez. Parasitic plants of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Mundi-Prensa, Madrid. pp. 7-27.

! Dan Nickrent, Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale: The Parasitic Plant Connection. See especially: Terminology of Parasitic Plants.

J. Nieder et al. (2001): Epiphytes and their contribution to canopy diversity. Abstract, Plant Ecology, 153.

S.C. Pennings and R.M. Callaway (2002): Parasitic plants: parallels and contrasts with herbivores. In PDF, Oecologia, 131: 479-489.
See also here.

O.L. Phillips et al. (2002): Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests. In PDF, Nature, 418.

G. Poinar (2014): Evolutionary history of terrestrial pathogens and endoparasites as revealed in fossils and subfossils. In PDF, Advances in Biology. See also here (abstract).

! M.C. Press and G.K. Phoenix (2005): Impacts of parasitic plants on natural communities. Free access, New Phytologist, 166: 737–751.

J. Psenicka and S. Oplustil (2013): The epiphytic plants in the fossil record and its example from in situ tuff from Pennsylvanian of Radnice Basin (Czech Republic). In PDF, Bulletin of Geosciences, 88.
Note Fig. 8: A reconstruction of Selaginella growing on terminal shoots of Lepidodendron lycopodioides. See also Fig. 11.

! R. Rößler (2000): The late Palaeozoic tree fern Psaronius - an ecosystem unto itself. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 108: 55-74. See also here.

R. Sáyago et al. (2013): Evaluating factors that predict the structure of a commensalistic epiphyte–phorophyte network. In PDF, Proc. R. Soc. B, 280. See also here (abstract).

M.A. Selosse and C. Strullu-Derrien (2015): Origins of the terrestrial flora: A symbiosis with fungi? In PDF, BIO Web of Conferences, 4.

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2010): Evidence of parasitic Oomycetes (Peronosporomycetes) infecting the stem cortex of the Carboniferous seed fern Lyginopteris oldhamia. Proc. R. Soc. B, 278: 675–680.

! T.N. Taylor and M. Krings (2005): Fossil microorganisms and land plants: Associations and interactions. PDF file, Symbiosis, 40: 119-135.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

! L. Teixeira-Costa et al. (2021): Life history, diversity, and distribution in parasitic flowering plants. Free access, Plant Physiology, 187: 32–51.
Note table 2: Number of parasitic species per clade.

T. van de Kamp et al. (2018): Parasitoid biology preserved in mineralized fossils. Open access, Nature Communications, 9.
"... using high-throughput synchrotron X-ray microtomography, we examine 1510 phosphatized fly pupae from the Paleogene of France and identify 55 parasitation events by four wasp species, ..."

K. Wagner et al. (2015): Host specificity in vascular epiphytes: a review of methodology, empirical evidence and potential mechanisms. Open access, AoB Plants, 7.

! B. Wang and Y.-L. Qiu (2006): Phylogenetic distribution and evolution of mycorrhizas in land plants. In PDF, Mycorrhiza, 16: 299-363. See also here.

J.E. Watkins and C.L. Cardelús (2012): Ferns in an angiosperm world: cretaceous radiation into the epiphytic niche and diversification on the forest floor. Abstract, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 173.

D.M. Watson et al. (2022): Functional Roles of Parasitic Plants in a Warming World. Free acces, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 53: 25–45.

Wayne´s Word (by W.P. Armstrong):
Parasitic Flowering Plants. Flowering plants that live on other plants.
Still available by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
! Epiphyte.
Epiphyt (in German).
! Paleoparasitology.
! Parasitic plant.
Phytoparasitismus (in German).
! Parasitism.
Parasitismus (in German).

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Gall.
Pflanzengalle (in German).

P. Woltz et al. (1994): Interspecific parasitism in the Gymnosperms: unpublished data on two endemic New Caledonian Podocarpaceae using scanning electron microscopy. Free access, Acta Botanica Gallica, 141: 731-746.

T.P. Wyka et al. (2013): Phenotypic correlates of the lianescent growth form: a review. Free access, Annals of Botany, 112: 1667–1681.

! W. Zhou et al. (2022): Diodonopteris virgulata sp. nov., a climbing fern from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora and its paleoecology. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 304.
See also here.

W. Zhou et al. (2020): Yangopteris ascendens (Halle) gen. et comb. nov., a climbing alethopterid pteridosperm from the Asselian (earliest Permian) Wuda Tuff Flora. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here.