Phoradendron libocedri

Phoradendron libocedri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Santalales
Family:	Santalaceae
Genus:	Phoradendron
Species:	P. libocedri
Binomial name
*Phoradendron libocedri* (Engelm.) Howell

Phoradendron libocedri is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common name incense-cedar mistletoe. It is native to western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it grows in forests on its host tree, the California incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens).

This mistletoe is a shrub producing greenish erect, hanging, or drooping branches from a woody base where it grows attached to the tree, parasitizing it for water and nutrients. As a hemiparasite it contains some chlorophyll and can photosynthesize some energy for itself as well. The smooth, noded branches have flattened, scale-like leaves.

The plant is dioecious, with male and female individuals producing different forms of inflorescence with knobby flower clusters. Female flowers yield light pink or yellowish spherical berries each 3 or 4 millimeters wide.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/22/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.