Tristerix ''Tristerix'' is a genus of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, native to the Andes, ranging from Colombia and Ecuador to Chile and Argentina. They are woody perennials usually occurring as aerial parasites, are pollinated by hummingbirds and ...

aphyllus'' is a

holoparasitic 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 species of the genus ''

'' 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 ...

. It is endemic to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. '' T. aphyllus'' is sometimes called the "cactus mistletoe." It should not be confused with the mistletoe cactus, which is an epiphytic cactus, and not a mistletoe.

Description

The

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. ...

, ''

aphyllus'', parasitizes two species of cactus, ''

Echinopsis chiloensis ''Echinopsis chiloensis'' is a species of cactus native to South America; genus members are known as ''hedgehog cacti'', ''sea-urchin cactus'' or ''Easter lily cactus''. Description This species, ''E chiloensis'', is tree-like with branching str ...

'' and ''

Eulychnia acida ''Eulychnia acida'' is a flowering plant in the family Cactaceae that is found in Chile. Description The plant is an arborescent cactus, of mainly columnar formation that branches out in its growth, with a single base trunk, developing a profus ...

'', and in its adult form shows only its flowers and its fruits, bursting forth spectacularly from the columnar cacti which are its hosts. Mauseth (2011) discusses the morphological/anatomical effects of '' T. aphyllus'' on the cactus ''Echinopsis chiloensis''.

Taxonomy

'' T. aphyllus'' was first described by John Miers in 1830 as ''Loranthus aphyllus'' but with the publication in 1973 of an article by Barlow & Wiens, became ''Tristerix aphyllus'' (author, Tieghem (Tiegh.)). Other synonyms are: * ''Loranthus cactorum''

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew h ...

Arn. George Arnott Walker Arnott of Arlary (6 February 1799 – 17 April 1868) was a Scottish botanist. Early life George Arnott Walker Arnott was born in Edinburgh in 1799, the son of David Walker Arnott of Arlary. He attended Milnathort Parish ...

Bot. Beechey Voy. 25. 1830 ec 1830* ''Loranthus pumilus'' Miers ex

Schult. Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (15 April 1773 in Vienna – 21 April 1831 in Landshut) was an Austrian botanist and professor from Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer (1763–1819), he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' ''Systema ...

Schult.f. Julius Hermann Schultes (4 February 1804 in Vienna – 1 September 1840 in Munich) was an Austrian botanist from Vienna. He co-authored volume 7 of the Roemer & Schultes edition of the ''Systema Vegetabilium'' with his father Josef August S ...

Syst. Veg., ed. 15 bis oemer & Schultes7(2): 1649. 1830 ct-Dec 1830 * ''Phrygilanthus aphyllus'' ( Miers ex

DC. Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

) Eichler Fl. Bras. (Martius) 5(2): 47. 1868 5 Jul 1868(sourcesː ''et.al.'', International Plant Names Index, 2018)

References

External links

Images of ''Tristerix aphyllus'' at PhytoImages, Southern Illinois University.
Accessed 4 April 2018. {{taxonbar, from=Q15356585 Loranthaceae Flora of Chile Taxa named by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem aphyllus