Loranthus

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Loranthus
Loranthus europaeus Sturm43.jpg
Loranthus europaeus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Loranthaceae
Genus: Loranthus
Jacq., nom. cons. [1]

Loranthus is a genus of parasitic plants that grow on the branches of woody trees. It belongs to the family Loranthaceae, the showy mistletoe family. [2] In most earlier systematic treatments it contains all mistletoe species with bisexual flowers, though some species have reversed to unisexual flowers. Other treatments restrict the genus to a few species. The systematic situation of Loranthus is not entirely clear.

Contents

The generic name in botanical Latin means strap-flower, in reference to the shape of the petals. [3]

Taxonomy

The taxonomic history of the generic name Loranthus is complicated. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Loranthus for a genus of one species, Loranthus americanus, which was thus the type species. He later added other species, including Loranthus scurrula in 1762, a species he had previously placed in a separate genus, Scurrula, and Loranthus europaeus in 1763, a name first used by Jacquin in 1762. However, Loranthus americanus has been included in Psittacanthus since that genus was first erected in 1830. Application of priority as set out in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants requires the name Loranthus to be used instead of Psittacanthus, with a different genus name used for the remaining species Linnaeus placed in Loranthus. To avoid altering established usage, the International Botanical Congress of 1930 decided to conserve LoranthusL. (1762), with the type species Loranthus scurrula, over LoranthusL. (1753). However, when Loranthus in this sense was split further, Loranthus scurrula was placed in the revived genus Scurrula. The conservation decision in 1930 meant that Loranthus should be used instead of Scurrula, and a different name used for Scurrula. [4] Again to avoid altering established usage, a proposal was agreed in 1964 to conserve LoranthusJacq. (1762), with the type species Loranthus europaeus, over LoranthusL. (1753). [5]

Species

The number of species recognized in the genus Loranthus has varied widely. At one time it included almost all mistletoes. It was then split into many genera, leaving only L. europaeus from Europe eastwards and L. odoratus from tropical Asia. [6] The Flora of China lists six species native to China (three endemic), stating that there are about ten species in total. [7] Species recognized as of May 2015 are: [6] [7] [8]

Ecology

Some species of Loranthus, in the broad sense, are parasites on cultivated trees; for example, they occur in Kerala and Uttarakhand India on mango trees ( Mangifera indica ), sapota trees ( Manilkara zapota ) and poplar trees. [9] The majority of the Anogeissus latifolia trees in the Biligirirangan Hills of Karnataka are infected by Loranthus species and in Africa, they are pests in cocoa plantations. These plants grow strongly on ageing trees particularly somewhere in the middle of old branches. Once established, they steal minerals and water, as well as block sunlight by covering the encroached place. [9]

The flowers of Loranthus europaeus are small, green, usually have four to six parts, and may be either unisexual or bisexual. Other species of a broader Loranthus have very large, showy flowers, with blooms in bright colours. The fruits are berries, usually containing a single seed, that is dispersed by birds. [10]

Loranthus flower found in Kerala ittikknnnniyutte puuv-3.JPG
Loranthus flower found in Kerala

The floral characteristics indicate that it is ornithophilous in nature and has moderate quantity nectar stored in its perianth tube. The mature buds require external factors like tripping to ensure that they open up. In the absence of this, the buds fall off without opening. Birds help in this process and mature buds eject a cloud of pollens that sticks to the head or beak of the probing bird. The birds seen visiting these flowers in India are Tickell's flowerpecker, purple-rumped sunbird, purple sunbird and spider-hunter. [11] [12]

Culture and religion

According to Pliny the Elder, the Celts considered "mistletoe" a remedy for barrenness in animals and an antidote to poison, and sacred when growing on oak trees. He describes a Celtic ritual sacrifice and banquet at which a druid dressed in white would climb an oak tree to collect mistletoe using a golden sickle. [13] Modern botanists believe the described species in oak trees was Loranthus europaeus.

This legend is often referred to in the popular Asterix comic books, where the druid Getafix is often seen collecting mistletoe with a golden sickle.

Modern druids in the Americas may use the native American Phoradendron leucarpum as well as other mistletoe species. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mistletoe</span> Common name for various parasitic plants that grow on trees and shrubs

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platanaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Platanaceae, the "plane-tree family", is a family of flowering plants in the order Proteales. The family consists of only a single extant genus Platanus, with twelve known species. The plants are tall trees, native to temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The hybrid London plane is widely planted in cities worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbird</span> Family of birds

Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly in the males. Many species also have especially long tail feathers. Their range extends through most of Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, South-east Asia and southern China, to Indonesia, New Guinea and northern Australia. Species diversity is highest in equatorial regions.

<i>Rubus odoratus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus odoratus, the purple-flowered raspberry, flowering raspberry, or Virginia raspberry, is a species of Rubus, native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and Wisconsin, and south along the Appalachian Mountains as far as Georgia and Alabama.

<i>Delias eucharis</i> Species of butterfly

Delias eucharis, the common Jezebel, is a medium-sized pierid butterfly found in many areas of south and southeast Asia, especially in the non-arid regions of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. The common Jezebel is one of the most common of the approximately 225 described species in the genus Delias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pale-billed flowerpecker</span> Species of bird

The pale-billed flowerpecker or Tickell's flowerpecker is a tiny bird that feeds on nectar and berries, found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The bird is common especially in urban gardens with berry bearing trees. They have a rapid chipping call and the pinkish curved beak separates it from other species in the region.

<i>Phoradendron</i> Genus of mistletoes

Phoradendron is a genus of mistletoe, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. The center of diversity is the Amazon rainforest. Phoradendron is the largest genus of mistletoe in the Americas, and possibly the largest genus of mistletoes in the world. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in the family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research acknowledged by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae.

<i>Psittacanthus</i> Genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Loranthaceae

Psittacanthus, also parrot-flower, is a plant genus in the family Loranthaceae. It is a type of mistletoe native from central Mexico southwards to Central America and parts of South America.

<i>Amyema miquelii</i> Species of plant

Amyema miquelii, also known as box mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae, found attached to several species of Australian eucalypt and occasionally on some species of Acacia. It is the most widespread of the Australian Mistletoes, occurring mainly to the west of the Great Dividing Range. It has shiny leaves and red flowers arranged in groups of 3. It is distinguished from the similar Amyema pendula through the individual stalks of the flowers.

<i>Dendrophthoe falcata</i> Species of mistletoe

Dendrophthoe falcata is one of the hemiparasitic plants that belong to the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. It is the most common of all the mistletoes that occur in India. At the moment reports say that it has around 401 plant hosts. The genus Dendrophthoe comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia among which 7 species are found in India.

<i>Dendropemon</i> Genus of mistletoes

Dendropemon is a genus of mistletoes which is endemic to the Caribbean. Members of the genus are hemi-parasites which normally grow on trees and shrubs, although self-parasitism is known to occur. The approximately 31 species range from The Bahamas and Cuba in the north and west, to Barbados and St. Vincent in the southwest. Diversity and endemism is highest on the island of Hispaniola.

<i>Amyema benthamii</i> Species of epiphyte

Amyema benthamii, commonly known as the twin-leaved mistletoe or Bentham's mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia in semi-arid woodland. This species is named in honour of the English botanist George Bentham who between 1863 and 1878 published Flora Australiensis, the first flora of Australia.

<i>Psittacanthus robustus</i> Species of mistletoe

Psittacanthus robustus is a species of Neotropical mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is found in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela.

<i>Lysiana exocarpi</i> Species of mistletoe

Lysiana exocarpi, commonly known as harlequin mistletoe, is a species of hemiparasitic shrub, endemic to Australia. It is in the Gondwanan family Loranthaceae and is probably the most derived genus of that family with 12 pairs of chromosomes. The Loranthaceae is the most diverse family in the mistletoe group with over 900 species worldwide and including the best known species in Australia. Mistletoes are notable for their relationships with other species. In an early reference to the group in Australia Allan Cunningham explorer and first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, wrote in 1817: "The Bastard Box is frequently much encumbered with the twining adhering Loranthus aurantiacus which 'Scorning the soil, aloft she springs, Shakes her red plumes and claps her golden wings'."

<i>Psittacanthus calyculatus</i> Species of parasitic flowering plant in the family Loranthaceae

Psittacanthus calyculatus,, is a species of Neotropical mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, native to Colombia, Mexico, the Mexican Gulf, and Venezuela.

<i>Psittacanthus cordatus</i> Species of parasitic flowering plant in the family Loranthaceae

Psittacanthus cordatus is a species of Neotropical mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to Bolivia and Brazil.

<i>Psittacanthus brasiliensis</i> Species of parasitic flowering plant in the family Loranthaceae

Psittacanthus brasiliensis is a species of Neotropical mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is endemic to Brazil.

<i>Psittacanthus acinarius</i> Species of plant

Psittacanthus acinarius is a species of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and French Guiana.

Psittacanthus biternatus is a species of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia.

<i>Psittacanthus cucullaris</i> Species of mistletoe

Psittacanthus cucullaris is a species of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, and is native to Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil.

References

  1. ↑ "Plant Name Details for Loranthus Jacq". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  2. ↑ Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Loranthus
  3. ↑ Gledhill D. 1996. The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0521366755
  4. ↑ Balle, Simone; Dandy, J.E.; Gilmour, J.S.L.; Holttum, R.E.; Stearn, W.T. & Thoday, D. (1960). "Loranthus". Taxon. 9 (7): 208–210. doi:10.2307/1216271. JSTOR   1216271.
  5. ↑ Rickett, H.W. (1964), "Committee for Spermatophyta, Conservation of Generic Names VI", Taxon, 13 (5): 180–182, doi:10.2307/1216139, JSTOR   1216139
  6. 1 2 Nickrent, Daniel L.; Malécot, Valéry; Vidal-Russell, Romina & Der, Joshua P. (2010). "A revised classification of Santalales" (PDF). Taxon. 59 (2): 538–558. doi:10.1002/tax.592019 . Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  7. 1 2 Qiu, Huaxing & Gilbert, Michael G. "Loranthus". In Wu, Zhengyi; Raven, Peter H. & Hong, Deyuan (eds.). Flora of China (online). eFloras.org. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  8. ↑ "Search results for Loranthus". The Plant List. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  9. 1 2 Kumari, S., Singh, A.K., Kumar, S., and Shah, V.K. (2020). A Hidden Problem: Loranthus falcatus L. & Loranthus parasitica L. for Horticulture Crops. Agriculture and food eNewsletter, 2(5):719-721. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341182673_A_Hidden_Problem_Loranthus_Falcatus_L_Loranthus_Parasitica_L_for_Horticulture_Crops
  10. ↑ Sayeed-ud-Din M, Salam MA. 1935. A Somewhat Cosmopolitan Parasite — Loranthus longiflorus. Current Science 4(3): 160 - 162.
  11. ↑ Solomon, Raju; et al. (2003). "Passerine_bird_pollination_in_some_dry_season_blooming_plant_species_in_the_Eastern_Ghats". ResearchGate. 7 (4): 286.
  12. ↑ Devasahayam S & Rema J (1993). "Flower birds of Kozhikode District, Kerala". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 33 (6): 103–105.
  13. ↑ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Book XVI.
  14. ↑ Taylor, Tony (1997). The Henge of Keltria Book of Ritual (4th ed.).
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