Dischidia tomentella (Dischidia tomentella)
Description
Dischidia is a genus of plants in the Milkweed family, Apocynaceae. They are epiphytes native to tropical areas of China, India and most areas of Indo-China. Dischidia are closely aligned with the sister genus Hoya. Unlike Hoya, the genus Dischidia is poorly known and has not been studied as closely. Most Dischidia grow in arboreal ant nests of different species and some have developed a symbiotic relationship where the plant has developed modified leaves to either provide housing or storage. Of these there are two types of modification to the leaves. Three species develop bullate leaves which are hollow root-filled structures. These are Dischidia complex Griff, Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr. and Dischidia vidalii Becc. Both produce normal leaves (cordate in shape) in addition to the bullate leaves. These bullate leaves are formed when the outer margins of a leaf stop growing while the center of the leaf continues to grow. As time progresses the leaf margins curl under to close the gap which creates a small hole.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Gentianales
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Family: Apocynaceae
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Genus: Dischidia
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