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Corynaea crassa
Corynaea crassa, commonly known as Peruvian Viagra or huanarpo macho is a species of parasitic flowering plant in the family Balanophoraceae found in South and Central America. Described in 1856 by Joseph Dalton Hooker, it is the sole member of the monotypic genus Corynaea.
It is not specialized for a single host species, with a broad variety of plant species that can serve as a host. Across its broad distribution, it has been known to parasitize at least four separate families of plants and grow in association with various other plants depending on its location. Consisting of a single underground haustorial tuber which is physically connected to the host plant, the inflorescences emerge from the ground seasonally. In Peru, its tubers often find use in the context of folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory and aphrodisiac.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Corynaea crassa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
