Balanophora harlandii Hook.f. in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 22: 426, t. 75. 1859.

Plants dioecious (inflorescences unisexual), (6 -) 10 - 16 (- 20) cm long from point of fusion with host root; tubers in a mass branching from the base; single tuber 1 - 2.5 cm wide; stems slender, 7 - 10 mm thick. Leaves at the lower one-third to two-third part decussate in (3 -) 5 - 10 (- 17) pairs or subopposite or spirally arranged, imbricate or not, 2.5 - 4.5 x 1.5 - 2.5 cm. Male flowers: spadices ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.8 - 2.5 (- 4.5) x 1.5 - 2 cm; bracts one for each flower, several fused together forming a number of hexagonal pits, from bottom of which the flowers arise; pedicels (3 -) 5 - 7 mm long; flowers 3-merous; tepals up to 2.5 x 4.5 mm; anthers forming a flat depressed synandrium, transversely dehiscing. Female flowers: on main axis of spadices only; spadices subspherical to ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.5 - 2.5 x 1 - 2 cm; spadicles obconical, truncate, 3 or 4 times longer than wide, 730 - 960 μm long, 70 - 120 μm wide at base, 270 - 500 μm wide at top; cuticular ridges mostly absent; largest flowers with ca 690 μm long pistils and ca 170 ìm long carpels.

Fl. & Fr. July - Feb.

Distrib. India: At about 2300 m altitude in Nagaland.

China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.

Notes. The only hosts recorded so far are Ficus spp.