Tinkturenpresse

Cytinus hypocistis L. - syn. Asarum hypocistis L. (basionym) - Cytinaceae - Cistenräuber

Ant-pollinated parasitic plant, native to the Mediterranean.

„Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L. and C. ruber (Fourr.) Fritsch. are perennial holoparasites that appear exclusively on roots of Cistaceae species. The vegetative body of both parasites is contained entirely within the root of their host plants, and only in spring do the inflorescences burst through the host tissues.“
[The endophytic system of Mediterranean Cytinus (Cytinaceae) developing on five host Cistaceae species., De Vega, C., Ortiz, P.L., Arista, M., Talavera, S., Annals of Botany, 100(6), 2007, 1209-1217] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759266/

„Male and female flowers of Cytinus, during both the day and night, produced a sweet scent (to the human nose) with (E)-cinnamyl alcohol, (E)-cinnamaldehyde and 4-oxoisophorone predominating in the volatile profile… Most importantly, the presence of the main compounds was constant across all Cytinus populations and races, a finding that suggests they are important signalling molecules. Supporting this idea, our results have shown that volatiles released only by the flowers, and particularly (E)-cinnamyl alcohol and (E)-cinnamaldehyde, play an important role in the attraction of pollinators to Cytinus flowers.“
[Floral volatiles play a key role in specialized ant pollination., de Vega, C., Herrera, C.M., Dötterl, S., Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 16(1), 2014, 32-42] http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/90050/1/de%20Vega%20et%20al%20PPEES%202014.pdf

Thomé,O.W., Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz, Tafeln, vol.3 t.458 (1885)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=315882