Phoradendron

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Phoradendron is a genus of mistletoes, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the family Santalaceae.

They are woody hemi-parasitic shrubs with branches 10-80 cm long, which grow on other trees. The foliage is dichotomously branching, with opposite pairs of leaves; these are fairly large, 2-5 cm long, green and photosynthetic in some species (e.g. P. leucarpum), but minimal in some others (e.g. P. californicum). The plant draws its mineral and water needs, and some of its energy needs, from the host tree. Different species of Phoradendron tend to use different host species, though most species are able to utilise several different hosts.

The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 1-3 mm diameter. The fruit is a berry, white, yellow, orange, or red when mature, containing several seeds embedded in very sticky juice; the seeds are dispersed when birds (notably Cedar Waxwings and Phainopeplas) eat the fruit, and remove the sticky seeds from the bill by wiping them on tree branches where they can germinate.

The foliage and berries of some species are toxic.

Selected species

• Phoradendron anceps – Goldenfruit Mistletoe
• Phoradendron argentinum
• Phoradendron barahonae – Island Mistletoe
• Phoradendron bolleanum – Bollean Mistletoe
• Phoradendron californicum – Mesquite Mistletoe
• Phoradendron capitellatum – Downy mistletoe
• Phoradendron coryae – Cory's Mistletoe
• Phoradendron crassifolium
• Phoradendron densum – Dense Mistletoe
• Phoradendron dichotomum – Bertero's Mistletoe
• Phoradendron emarginatum
• Phoradendron flavescens
• Phoradendron hawksworthii – Hawksworth's Mistletoe
• Phoradendron hexastichum – Tropical Mistletoe
• Phoradendron hieronymi
• Phoradendron juniperinum – Juniper Mistletoe
• Phoradendron libocedri – Incense-cedar Mistletoe
• Phoradendron liga
• Phoradendron macrophyllum – Colorado Desert Mistletoe
• Phoradendron mucronatum
• Phoradendron pauciflorum – Fir Mistletoe
• Phoradendron piperoides – Piper Mistletoe
• Phoradendron quadrangulare
• Phoradendron racemosum – Bigleaf Mistletoe
• Phoradendron rubrum – Mahogany Mistletoe
• Phoradendron serotinum (syn. P. flavescens, P. leucarpum) – Oak (or Eastern) Mistletoe
• Phoradendron tetrapterum – Fourpart Mistletoe
• Phoradendron tomentosum – Christmas Mistletoe
• Phoradendron trinervium – Angled Mistletoe
• Phoradendron tucumanense
• Phoradendron villosum – Pacific Mistletoe

References

• USDA Plants Profile: Phoradendron
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Phoradendron
• Flora of Bolivia: Phoradendron checklist
• Mistletoes on Hardwoods in the United States US Forest Service