''Muellerina myrtifolia'', common name myrtle-leaved mistletoe,
[ is a ]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 ...
aerial shrub 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 ...
.[ The species is
endemic to New South Wales and Queensland.]
Description
''M. myrtifolia'' is a rainforest mistletoe with small ovate, sessile leaves with a shiny upper surface and a dull lower surface, and measuring 15–20 mm long.[
New growth is russet-coloured.][ The inflorescence is a paired umbel which hangs from the foliage on long stalks, with each flower being a long red and yellow or red and white tube with dark, projecting stamens.][ The oval shaped fruit are a dull green which ripens to a brownish-red, and have a prominent flower-scars.][
]
Ecology
The main hosts on which ''M. myrtifolia'' grows are vines, in particular, Wonga vine (''Pandorea pandorana
''Pandorea pandorana'', commonly known as the wonga wonga vine or wonga-vine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Bignoniaceae and is native to Australia, Malesia and the southwestern Pacific region. It is a woody scrambler or climber ...
''), '' Jasminum'' species, and ''Parsonsia
''Parsonsia'' is a genus of woody vines in the family Apocynaceae. Species occur throughout Indomalaya, Australasia and Melanesia.
Description
The leaves are opposite, the shape and size of juvenile leaves often bearing little resemblance to th ...
'' species.[ An inventory of host plants for ''Muellerina myrtifolia'' is given by Downey.][Downey, P.O. (1998) An inventory of host species for each aerial mistletoe species (''Loranthaceae'' and ''Viscaceae'') in Australia.]
Cunninghamia 5(3) 685-720)
/ref>[Downey, P.O. (2004) A regional examination of the mistletoe host species inventory.]
Cunninghamia 8(3) 354-361)
/ref>
''Muellerina myrtifolia'' is not known to host any butterflies.[Watson, D.M. (2011) Mistletoes of Southern Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by George Bentham in 1867 as ''Loranthus myrtifolius''.[ It was redescribed by B.A.Barlow in 1962 as ''Muellerina myrtifolia'', with the current description of the species being that of Barlow in 1984.][
]
References
External links
PlantNet:Description of ''Muellerina myrtifolia'' (Quirico, A.L. 1992. Flora of NSW 3)
AVH: Occurrence data for ''Muellerina myrtifolia''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18074185
Parasitic plants
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
myrtifolia
Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)
Plants described in 1867