noun
- a parasitic plant that depends entirely on its host plant for nutrition and has no chlorophyll or functional leaves of its own
Usage: biology; also called obligate parasite
Examples
- Dodder is a common holoparasite that wraps around host plants and extracts nutrients through specialized structures.
- Unlike hemiparasites, holoparasites cannot photosynthesize and must obtain all their energy from their hosts.
- The holoparasite Rafflesia produces enormous flowers but relies completely on its host vine for survival.
- Holoparasites have lost the ability to produce chlorophyll over millions of years of evolution.
- Farmers often struggle to control holoparasites in their fields because the plants are so dependent on their hosts.