---
title: "Not all plants photosynthesize"
url: https://plants.lasse.co.uk/fact-archive/not-all-plants-photosynthesize/
---

# Not all plants photosynthesize
Date: 2026-05-31

Although we're taught in school that the trademark of a plant is their ability to photosynthesize, that's not always the case, with several species having lost their ability to photosynthesize. Instead, such plants often parasitize other plants, stealing their nutrients, as as is the case for the important crop weed, *Striga*. In other cases the plant may parasitize fungi that live in the soil, as is the case for many orchid species.



## References:

1. [Mycoheterotrophy and plastid genome evolution in the early-diverging epidendroid orchid tribe Nervilieae](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12888386/)

1. [Habits of a highly successful cereal killer, Striga](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5764402/)





```json
[
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "WebSite",
    "url": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk",
    "name": "Phytotastic",
    "description": "Phytotastic - Occasional fun facts about plants, because plants are phytotastic",
    "potentialAction": {
      "@type": "SearchAction",
      "target": {
        "@type": "EntryPoint",
        "urlTemplate": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk/search/?q={search_term_string}"
      },
      "query-input": "required name=search_term_string"
    },
    "sameAs": [
      "https://bsky.app/profile/phytotastic.bsky.social",
      "https://plants.lasse.co.uk/llms.txt"
    ]
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Not all plants photosynthesize",
    "description": "Although we're taught in school that the trademark of a plant is their ability to photosynthesize, that's not always the case, with several species having lost their ability to photosynthesize. Instead, such plants often parasitize other...",
    "url": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk/fact-archive/not-all-plants-photosynthesize/",
    "datePublished": "2026-05-31",
    "author": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Phytotastic"
    },
    "citation": [
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Mycoheterotrophy and plastid genome evolution in the early-diverging epidendroid orchid tribe Nervilieae",
        "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12888386/"
      },
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Habits of a highly successful cereal killer, Striga",
        "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5764402/"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 1,
        "name": "Home",
        "item": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk"
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 2,
        "name": "Fact Archive",
        "item": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk/fact-archive/"
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 3,
        "name": "Not all plants photosynthesize",
        "item": "https://plants.lasse.co.uk/fact-archive/not-all-plants-photosynthesize/"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```