Glossary Details – Lecythidaceae

Glossary Details:

Mycorrhizal relationship. Drawing by M. Sashital and photo by C. A. Gracie.

Title: Cecropia ant/plant interaction. Photo by S.A. Mori.

Description: Ants associated with a species of Cecropia based on an unvouchered plant from Brazil. The pads on the abaxial side of the leaf petiole are called trichilia (sing. = trichilium) and the small white bodies within the trichilia are Muellerian bodies (see inset). The ants, usually of the genus Azteca, inhabit the hollow stems. They enter the stem through holes they have drilled at at small depressions at the top of internodes called prostoma.

Term:

Mutualism

Definition:

A symbiotic relationship between two organisms that benefits both; examples are the relationship of ants with species of (the ants receive food and shelter and the plant is protected from preditors by the ants) and the relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plants (the fungus receives carbohydrates and the plant receives nutrients).