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Opilia
Opilia amentacea
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A shrub or woody vine distributed in tropical Africa and Asia. Not native to Japan, but the leaves and fruits are used for food and medicine in India and Southeast Asia. It is hemiparasitic, with haustoria on the roots.
Identification Points
- βEvergreen leaves are coriaceous, elliptic to oblong
- βSmall flowers borne in spicate or racemose inflorescences
- βA hemiparasitic plant with haustoria on the roots
Habitat
Tropical forests from Africa to Southeast Asia (not native to Japan)
Season
Year-round (tropical evergreen)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Leaf shape
Round
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Petal fusion
Fused
Stipules
Absent
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Phylogenetic Positionγͺγγͺγ’η§ β
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Santalales > Opiliaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (ca. 75 million years ago)
Evolution Notes
Opiliaceae belongs to Santalales, an order with evolutionary tendencies from hemiparasitism toward holoparasitism. Opiliaceae maintains the hemiparasitic stage.
View on evolution timeline βSources & References
AI-generated, needs verification