Comandra
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the mistletoe family Santalaceae}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Comandra umbellata.jpg
|status = G5
|status_system = TNC
|genus = Comandra
|parent_authority = Nutt.
|species = umbellata
|authority = (L.) Nutt.
|synonyms =
- Comandra richardsiana Fern.
- Thesium umbellatum L.
- Comandra umbellata subsp. elegans (Rochel ex Rchb.) Piehl
- Comandra elegans (Rochel ex Rchb.) Rchb. f, 1849Reichenbach, Heinrich Gustav, Icones florae germanicae et helveticae 11: 11. 1849.[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/100314331 Comandra elegans] at Tropicos
- Comandra pallida A. DC.
}}
Comandra is a monotypic genus{{cite journal | last1 = Der | first1 = J. P. | last2 = Nickrent | first2 = D. L. | year = 2008 | title = A molecular phylogeny of Santalaceae (Santalales) | url = http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/faculty/nickrent/NickrentPDFs/Der%26Nickrent2008.pdf | journal = Systematic Botany | volume = 33 | issue = 1| pages = 107–16 | doi=10.1600/036364408783887438| s2cid = 85999681 }} containing the single species Comandra umbellata. Its common names include bastard toadflax, umbellate bastard toadflax, and common comandra.[http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=comandra+umbellata Comandra umbellata.] NatureServe. 2012. The plant has a disjunct distribution; its four subspecies occur in North America and the Mediterranean.{{cite book | first=D. J. | last=Mabberley | title=The Plant Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants | year=2000 | publisher= Cambridge University Press | location=New York}}
Description
Comandra is a perennial herb growing from rhizomes, often in drier or semi-sandy soils,{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25708726|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=128|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}} to about {{Convert|8 to 34|cm|frac=4}} 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. The flowers contain both male and female structures, and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a drupe 4–6 mm thick.[https://home.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/santalaceae_comandra_umbellata.htm Comandra umbellata.] Arches National Park, Utah. United States National Park Service.
Subspecies include:[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=501614 Comandra umbellata.] Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
- 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.{{cite journal | first= E. H. | last= Moss | year=1926 | title= Parasitism in the genus Comandra | journal=New Phytologist | volume=25 |pages=264–276 | doi= 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1926.tb06695.x | issue= 4 | jstor= 2428127 | doi-access= free }} It has a wide host range, parasitizing over 200 known plant species. These include: Acer, Antennaria, Aster, Betula, Carex, Solidago, Fragaria, Populus, Quercus, Rosa, Rubus, Vaccinium and some grasses.{{cite book|last1=Rhoads|first1=Ann|last2=Block|first2=Timothy|title=The Plants of Pennsylvania|publisher=University of Pennsylvania press|location=Philadelphia Pa|isbn=978-0-8122-4003-0|edition=2nd|date=2007-08-08}}
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.{{cite journal |last=Woods |first=A. J. |display-authors=etal |year=2000 |title=Predicted impacts of hard pine stem rusts on lodgepole pine dominated stands in central British Columbia |journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=476–481 |doi=10.1139/cjfr-30-3-476}}
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.{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=D. W. |year=1986 |title=Comandra Blister Rust |url=http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/comandra/comandrafidl.htm |journal=Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet |volume=62}}
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,{{cite book|title=Wild Berries of the West|year=2001|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company|location=Missoula, Montana|isbn=978-0-87842-433-7|pages=159|author=Betty B. Derig|author2=Margaret C. Fuller|name-list-style=amp}} and though small, they have a sweet taste.{{cite web|title=Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata)|url=http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/wildflwr/species/comaumbe.htm|work=Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands|publisher=Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center|access-date=3 December 2013}} The fruit may contain toxic selenium if grown in soil rich in the element.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from1=Q5150546|from2=Q15380252}}
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