'' Amyema congener'', commonly known as the variable mistletoe, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

, an

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae from eastern Australia. It is found on members of the genera ''

Allocasuarina ''Allocasuarina'' is a genus of trees in the flowering plant family Casuarinaceae. They are endemic to Australia, occurring primarily in the south. Like the closely related genus '' Casuarina'', they are commonly called sheoaks or she-oaks. ...

'', ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...

'' and some exotic species.

Franz Sieber Franz Wilhelm Sieber (30 March 1789 – 17 December 1844), was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia. Early life Franz Sieber was born in Prague, Bohemia on 30 March 1789. After 5 ...

first described this species as ''Loranthus congener'' in 1829, before Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem gave it its current binomial name in 1894. It grows as shrubby plant, with either an erect or pendant (drooping) habit, from a tree branch or trunk. It is attached to the host tree by a globular woody base. The stems and foliage are smooth. The thick leathery leaves are spear-shaped (lanceolate) to oval or obovate and measure in length and across. Flowers can be seen at any time of year. The diameter round fruit ripen over the summer (December to February), and the single seed within is contained in a sticky membrane. The principal host plant of the variable mistletoe is the black sheoak ('' Allocasuarina littoralis'') also forest oak ('' A. torulosa''), gossamer wattle ('' Acacia floribunda''), white feather honeymyrtle (''

Melaleuca decora ''Melaleuca decora'', commonly known as the white feather honeymyrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to eastern Australia. It is a large shrub to small tree with papery bark, lance-shaped leaves and sweet-smelling, cr ...

''), prickly-leaved tea tree ('' M. styphelioides''), prickly-leaved paperbark ('' M. nodosa''), snow-in-summer ('' M. linariifolia''), green native cascarilla (''

Croton verreauxii ''Croton verreauxii'', known as the green native cascarilla, is a small tree or shrub growing in dry rainforest and rainforest margins in eastern Australia. The range of natural distribution is from Kiama (34° S) in the Illawarra district ...

''), red olive plum ('' Elaeodendron australe''), as well as introduced trees such as peach and plum trees, pear trees, and oleander ('' Nerium oleander''). It is only occasionally on gum trees such as ''

Eucalyptus obtusifolia ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including ''Corymbia'', they are commonly known as eucal ...

'' and smooth-barked apple '' Angophora costata''. The mistletoebird (''Dicaeum hirundinaceum'') eats the fruit. Scale insect species such as ''

Ceroplastes cerciferus ''Ceroplastes'' is a genus of wax scales in the family Coccidae The Coccidae are a family of scale insects belonging to the superfamily Coccoidea. They are commonly known as soft scales, wax scales or tortoise scales. The females are flat wi ...

'', '' C. rubens'', and ''

Aspidiotus aurantii ''Aspidiotus'' is a genus of armoured scale insects. It includes several agricultural and horticultural pests. ''A. destructor'' was originally blamed for a massive die-off of coconut trees in the Philippines which began about 2009. It has bee ...

'' can attack the plant. The seed immediately begins to germinate and soon penetrates the vascular system of the tree and creates a physiological connection with the

xylem Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem. The basic function of xylem is to transport water from roots to stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. The word ''xylem'' is derived fr ...

of the new host. From that point, the seedling begins to obtain water and mineral nutrients from the host.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4749509 congener Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Parasitic plants Plants described in 1829