''Amyema sanguinea'' is an aerial hemiparasitic shrub within the genus '' Amyema'', 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 ...

and native to Australia, where it is found in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Description

Its leaves are flat and opposite (sometimes appearing alternate). Its inflorescence is a simple

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

with 3-6 flowers, on a stem. Flowering from January to December, its erect flowers shade from pinky-red to an orange-red. The yellow stamens do not project beyond the corolla. The mature buds have six ribs.

Ecology

''A. sanguinea'' is usually found on eucalypts, but is sometimes found on ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

s'' or ''

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 na ...

s''. Downey's list of hosts gives 33 eucalyptus hosts. It is used by at least seven species of moths and butterflies ('' Delias argenthona'', '' Candalides margarita gilberti'', '' Hippochrysops digglesii'', '' Ogyris amaryllis meridionalis'', '' Ogyris iphis doddi'', ''

Ogyris zosine ''Ogyris zosine'', the northern purple azure, is a member of the family Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are a ...

'' and ''

Comocrus behri ''Comocrus'' is a monotypic moth genus in the family Noctuidae erected by Karl Jordan in 1896. Its only species, ''Comocrus behri'', the mistletoe moth or mistletoe day moth, was first described by George French Angas in 1847. It is widely dist ...

'').

Taxonomy

''A. sanguinea'' was first described by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

as ''Loranthus sanguineus'' in 1859.

Danser Benedictus Hubertus Danser (May 24, 1891, Schiedam – October 18, 1943, Groningen), often abbreviated B. H. Danser, was a Dutch taxonomist and botanist. Danser specialised in the plant families Loranthaceae, Nepenthaceae, and Polygonaceae. In ...

, in 1929, allocated the species to the genus, '' Amyema'' in 1929.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15377687 Santalales sanguinea Plants described in 1859 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller