A plant without a body
In the vast savanna of the Brazilian Cerrado, a plant exists that has abandoned nearly every feature of plant life. Pilostyles blanchetii is an endoparasite, meaning it lives its entire life inside another organism. It has no roots, no stems, and no leaves. It does not photosynthesize and has no chlorophyll. For most of its life, its physical form is reduced to a network of cellular filaments resembling a fungal mycelium, weaving between the cells of its host plant. This vegetative body is made of strands of parenchyma cells that stay in close contact with the host's vascular system, from which it draws all water and nutrients.
Pilostyles blanchetii belongs to the family Apodanthaceae, a small group of about 10 species, all of which are extreme endoparasites. These plants are so specialized that they lack the shoot and root apical meristems that nearly all other plants use for growth. Instead, their cells form clusters and networks within the host's bark and cortex. Using advanced imaging techniques like micro-computed tomography, scientists have visualized this hidden network, showing how it forms extensive "islands" of parasitic tissue inside the host's branches. From these internal cell masses, specialized structures called sinkers, composed of modified vessel elements, connect directly to the host's xylem to extract resources.