'' Agelanthus myrsinifolius'' is a species of

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

plant in the family

Loranthaceae Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are ''Nuytsia floribunda'' (the W ...

, which is native to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, Zaire and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

Description

For a brief description see the African Plant database.

Habitat and ecology

'' A. myrsinifolius'' has been found at altitudes of 1900–3300 m in montane or swamp forests and in heaths. Recorded hosts are ''

Myrsine ''Myrsine'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. It was formerly placed in the family Myrsinaceae before this was merged into the Primulaceae. It is found nearly worldwide, primarily in tropical and subtropical areas. It con ...

'' and '' Erica mannii'' (at the higher altitudes).

Threats

At lower altitudes, intense human population pressure means that outside the protected areas, forest is disappearing due to agriculture and logging. At these altitudes, the host, ''

'', is being cleared for agriculture. At the higher altitudes, the heath, '' Erica mannii'', is probably safe.

References

External links

JSTOR Global Plants: ''Agelanthus myrsinifolius''.
Accessed 23 March 2018.
Flore d'Afrique Centrale: ''Agelanthus myrsinifolius''.
Accessed 23 March 2018.
The International Plant Names Index: ''Agelanthus myrsinifolius''.
Accessed 23 March 2018. Flora of Rwanda Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Flora of Burundi myrsinifolius Taxa named by Adolf Engler Taxa named by Kurt Krause {{Santalales-stub