Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Ombrophytum subterraneum (Aspl.) B. Hansen

amañoco, sicha

Whitish to rose colored parasite plant with numerous flowers alternately inserted in fissures (Hansen, Bertel, 1980).

Monoecious, male inflorescences have 50 flowers whereas the female have 100 (Hansen, 1980).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Santalales

Family
Balanophoraceae

Genus
Ombrophytum

Species
subterraneum

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Juelia subterranea Aspl. fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: The native range of this species is Galápagos, Peru to NW. Argentina (POWO, 2023).

References

  • Adsersen, H. (1976) Ombrophytum peruvianum New Record (Balanophoraceae) found in the Galapagos Islands. Bot. Notiser 129(2): 113-117.
  • Hansen, B. (1980) Balanophoraceae. Flora Neotropica Monographs 23.
  • Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
  • Lawesson, J.E. Adsersen, H. & Bentley, P. (1987) An updated and annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galapagos islands. Rept. Bot. Inst., Univ. Aarhus 16: 1-74.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Ombrophytum subterraneum", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=197. Accessed 31 October 2026.