''Psittacanthus brasiliensis'' is a species of
Neotropical mistletoe
Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host 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 endemic to
Brazil.
[
]
Description
''Psittacanthus brasiliensis'' has pendulous branches, which are circular in cross-section.[ The leaves are opposite and petiolate, with the leaf base being acute and the apex obtuse.][ The position of the inflorescence is terminal and forms an umbel of triads on ]peduncle Peduncle may refer to:
*Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed
*Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body
**Peduncle (art ...
s.[ Their colour is red and they have a straight style][
]
Distribrution
It occurs in the southeast of Brazil ( Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo).[
]
Habitat
It grows in Atlantic forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
and rain-forest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...
.[
]
Taxonomy
''Psittacanthus brasiliensis'' was first described by Desrousseaux in 1792 as ''Loranthus brasiliensis'',[ and in 1834, Don assigned it to the new genus '' Psittacanthus''.][
]
Etymology
''Psittacanthos'' comes from the Greek ''psittakos'' (parrot), and the Greek ''anthos'' (flower), possibly chosen, according to Don,[ because of the bright colours. The specific epithet, ''brasiliensis'', is the Latin for ''of Brazil'' (genitive singular case).][
]
References
{{-
brasiliensis
Flora of Brazil
Taxa named by George Don