Phoradendron densum
Encyclopedia
Phoradendron densum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family
known by the common name dense mistletoe. It is native to the Southwestern United States
and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in various types of woodland habitat. This mistletoe
parasitizes
species of cypress
, including Arizona cypress
(Cupressus arizonica), and juniper
.
It can be found tangled in the branches of its host tree, extending its own erect branches 30 to 50 centimeters. It has green leaves around a centimeter long and half a centimeter wide. It is dioecious
, with male and female plants producing different forms of inflorescence
with round, knoblike flowers. The female flowers yield spherical berries
each about 4 millimeters wide and yellowish or pale pink in color when ripe.
Santalaceae
Santalaceae is a widely distributed family of flowering plants which, like other members of Santalales, are partially parasitic on other plants...
known by the common name dense mistletoe. It is native to the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in various types of woodland habitat. This mistletoe
Mistletoe
Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemi-parasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales. The plants in question grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub.-Mistletoe in the genus Viscum:...
parasitizes
Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or...
species of cypress
Cupressus
The genus Cupressus is one of several genera within the family Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for the others, see cypress. It is considered a polyphyletic group...
, including Arizona cypress
Cupressus arizonica
Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona Cypress, is a species of cypress native to the southwest of North America, in the United States in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, southern California, and the Chisos Mountains of west Texas, and in Mexico in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and...
(Cupressus arizonica), and juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
.
It can be found tangled in the branches of its host tree, extending its own erect branches 30 to 50 centimeters. It has green leaves around a centimeter long and half a centimeter wide. It is dioecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, with male and female plants producing different forms of inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
with round, knoblike flowers. The female flowers yield spherical berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
each about 4 millimeters wide and yellowish or pale pink in color when ripe.