''Cassytha filiformis'' or love-vine is an orangish, wiry,

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

in the laurel family (

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

), found in warm tropical regions worldwide in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. It is an

obligate parasite An obligate parasite or holoparasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life-cycle without exploiting a suitable host. If an obligate parasite cannot obtain a host it will fail to reproduce. This is opposed to a facultative parasite, ...

, meaning it cannot complete its life-cycle without another host plant. Research in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(in southeast United States) has found that love-vine inhibits

gall wasps Gall wasps, also incorrectly called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this genera ...

by attacking the Gall, galls (small growths on plants) that the wasps create for their young. The plant is one of many considered an aphrodisiac in the Caribbean, lending the name "love-vine."

Distribution

The species has a native pantropical distribution encompassing the

, Indomalaya, Australasia, Polynesia and tropical Africa.Flora of North America vol 3
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Description

''Cassytha filiformis'' is a twining vine with an orange to pale green stem. Leaves are reduced to scales about 1 mm long. Flowers are borne in Spike (botany), spikes or sometimes solitary. There are six tepals, each 0.1-2.0 mm long. Fruit is a drupe about 7 mm in diameter.

Uses and relationship with humans

In the Caribbean region, it is one of several plants known as "love vine" because it has a reputation as an aphrodisiac. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that the "This and other species of Cassytha are called " Dodder-laurel." The emphatic name of "Devil's guts" is largely used. It frequently connects bushes and trees by cords, and becomes a nuisance to the traveller. "This plant is used by the Brahmins of Southern India for seasoning their buttermilk. (Treasury of Botany?)".

Gall wasps

A 2018 study revealed how a southern Florida subspecies of this widespread species is involved in a newly discovered form of trophic interaction involving gall-forming Gall wasp, cynipid wasps. New tendrils will actively seek out galls made by the gall wasp, ''Belonocnema treatae'', on leaves of a host oak tree, ''Quercus geminata''. The findings show that galls attacked by Haustorium, haustoria were associated with a 45% less survival rate for the wasps, suggesting that ''C. filiformis'' has an important negative impact on gall wasp survival. In the study, other species of plant and wasp galls are parasitised by this plant in the southern Florida area too. Starr 010520-0082 Cassytha filiformis

References

External links

Love Vine
at Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, University of Florida * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2941329 Cassytha, filiformis Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Pantropical flora Parasitic plants Flora of Australia Flora of Florida Flora of Texas Flora of South America Flora of Mexico Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Madagascar Flora of South Africa Flora of tropical Asia Flora of the Lesser Sunda Islands Flora of Hawaii