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.
The great purple hairstreak, also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type specimen, however, was shipped to Europe from the Colony of Virginia, probably around the time of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Abies concolor, the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. It naturally occurs at elevations between 900–3,400 metres (3,000–11,200 ft).
Calocedrus decurrens, with the common names incense cedar and California incense cedar, is a species of coniferous tree native to western North America. It is the most widely known species in the genus, and is often simply called incense cedar without the regional qualifier.
Viscum album is a species of mistletoe in the family Santalaceae, commonly known as European mistletoe, common mistletoe or simply as mistletoe. It is native to Europe and western and southern Asia.
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.
Tillandsia recurvata, commonly known as small ballmoss or ball moss, is a flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidity, which is commonly provided by southern shade trees, often the southern live oak. It is not a parasite like mistletoe, but an epiphyte like its relative Spanish moss.
Phoradendron leucarpum is a species of mistletoe in the Viscaceae family which is native to the United States and Mexico. Its common names include American mistletoe, eastern mistletoe, hairy mistletoe and oak mistletoe. It is native to Mexico and the continental United States. It is hemiparasitic, living in the branches of trees. The berries are white and 3–6 millimeters (0.12–0.24 in). It has opposite leaves that are leathery and thick. Ingesting the berries can cause "stomach and intestinal irritation with diarrhea, lowered blood pressure, and slow pulse". This shrub can grow to 1 meter (3.3 ft) by 1 meter (3.3 ft).
Quercus rugosa, commonly known as the netleaf oak, is a broad-leaved tree in the beech and oak family Fagaceae. It is native to southern North America.
Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe or mesquite mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California. It can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts at elevations of up to 1400 m.
Phoradendron densum Trel. is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common name dense mistletoe. It is native to the western United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in various types of woodland habitat. It has been reported from California, Oregon, Arizona and Baja California. This mistletoe parasitizes species of cypress, including Arizona cypress, and juniper.
Phoradendron juniperinum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common name juniper mistletoe. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in various types of woodland habitat. It has been reported from California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Chihuahua and Sonora.
Phoradendron macrophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Colorado Desert mistletoe, bigleaf mistletoe, and Christmas mistletoe. It is native to western United States and northern Mexico from Oregon to Colorado to Texas to Baja California, where it grows in many types of wooded habitat at elevations up to 1700 m.
Phoradendron pauciflorum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common name fir mistletoe. It is native to coniferous forests in California, Arizona, and Baja California.
Phoradendron villosum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Pacific mistletoe and oak mistletoe. It is native to western North America from Oregon south into Mexico, where it grows in oak woodland and similar habitat.
Phoradendron tomentosum, the leafy mistletoe, hairy mistletoe or Christmas mistletoe, is a plant parasite. It is characterized by its larger leaves and smaller berries than dwarf mistletoe. Leafy mistletoe seldom kill but they do rob their hosts of moisture and some minerals, causing stress during drought and reducing crop productions on fruit and nut trees. Leafy mistletoe has the ability to photosynthesize on its own but it relies on other plants in order to obtain its nutrients. It attaches itself to a tree and then grows haustoria, in order to get the food and water it needs.
Phoradendron capitellatum, the downy mistletoe or hairy mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua and Sonora. It grows mostly on junipers at elevations of 800–1,700 m (2,600–5,600 ft). It is distinguished by having short, densely puberulent leaves usually less than 3 cm long. Flowers are also pubescent. Berries are pink to white, about 3 mm in diam.
Hairy mistletoe is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
Phoradendron bolleanum, commonly called Bollean mistletoe, is a species of plant in the sandalwood family that is native to the desert southwest, California and southern Oregon in the United States.
Phoratoxins are a group of peptide toxins that belong to the family of thionins, a subdivision of small plant toxins. Phoratoxins are proteins present in the leaves and branches of the Phoradendron, commonly known as the American variant of the mistletoe, a plant commonly used as decoration during the festive season. The berries of the mistletoe do not contain phoratoxins, making them less toxic compared to other parts of the plant. The toxicity of the mistletoe is dependent on the host tree, since mistletoe is known to be a semi-parasite. The host tree provides fixed inorganic nitrogen compounds necessary for the mistletoe to synthesize phoratoxins.
