Viscum articulatum Burm.F.

Species

Angiosperms > Santalales > Santalaceae > Viscum

Characteristics

Subshrubs often epiparasitic, monoecious, usually becoming pendulous, green, 20-50 cm tall. Branches opposite and decussate or dichotomous, flattened; internodes 1.5-2.5(-4) cm × 2-3(-3.5) mm, longitudinally 3-ridged. Leaves reduced to pairs of ± scarious scales. Inflorescences axillary, cymes 1-3 together; peduncle ± absent; 3-flowered, central flower female, lateral flowers male and often lacking; bracts 2, coalescent, forming a navicular involucre, ca. 1.5 mm. Male flowers globose in bud, 0.5-1 mm; perianth lobes 4. Female flower ellipsoid in bud, 1-1.5 mm; bract annular; perianth lobes 4, triangular, ca. 0.5 mm. Stigma cushion-shaped. Berry whitish or greenish white, globose, 3-4 mm in diam., smooth, base rounded. Fl. and fr. Jan-Dec.
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Pendulous slender plant to 1 m long. Internodes compressed-quandrangular with acute marginal and median ridges, 2–4.5 cm long, usually 1.5–2.5 mm wide, the basal ones becoming terete with age. Leaves reduced to a limb c. 0.5 mm high subtending inflorescences. Inflorescence of several sessile axillary flowers developing successively; first flower usually female and solitary; male flowers usually in a pair below involucre of female, subtended by acute bracts c. 0.7 mm long; subsequent flowers mostly female, developing below earlier ones. Male flower pyramidal, 1 mm long. Female flower broadly cylindrical; ovary c. 0.5 mm long; tepals c. 0.5 mm long. Fruit globular, 4–6 mm diam., somewhat translucent, white, pale yellow or pink.
Shrubs which climb and feed on other plants. They are vines which hang down. The vines are square in cross section but become round with age. They have ridges along them. The leaves are reduced to small scales near the flowers. Several flowers develop one after another along the flowering shoots. The male and female flowers are separate but on the same plant. The male flowers are triangular shaped while the female flowers are more like cylinders. Male flowers are near the edge and female flowers at the centre. The fruit is a white or yellow berry which lets light through. The fruit are round, smooth and 3-4 mm across. The fruit is attached to a long sticky strand.
Plant slender, pendulous. Stem internodes at maturity decussately flattened or compressed, quadrangular or double-edged with a raised angular rib on each face, 15-50 mm long, 0.5-3 mm wide below, widened to 1-5 mm above. Leaves rudimentary, spreading, c. 0.5 mm long. Inflorescence axillary, a sessile cymule of 1 flower subtended by a cupule c. 1 mm long, with subsidiary cymules developing lateral to the first one, with the first-formed flower female and the lateral flowers female or male. Fruit globose, sessile, smooth, white. Fig. 9a. Fig. 10.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support parasite
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality monoecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.1 - 0.25
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

They are tropical plants. They are spread naturally by special birds. They only grow on certain kinds of trees. (Loranthaceae and Buchanania obovata). In Sikkim it grows between 500-1,500 m above sea level. In Yunnan.
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The hosts are usually species of Loranthaceae or other Viscaceae; in Australia the only other confirmed hosts are in the related family Santalaceae (Exocarpos cupressiformis , E. latifolius ).
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The whole plant is roasted and eaten.
Uses material medicinal
Edible fruits leaves
Therapeutic use Ache(Leg) (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Aphrodisiac (unspecified), Atrophy (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Cachexia (unspecified), Syphilis (unspecified), Antipyretics (unspecified), Aphrodisiacs (unspecified), Pain (unspecified), Fractures, bone (whole plant)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. Normally these are dropped into trees by birds which eat the fruit.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Viscum articulatum unspecified picture

Distribution

Viscum articulatum world distribution map, present in Australia, Bhutan, China, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:552269-1
WFO ID wfo-0001259594
COL ID 5BKB6
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 453796
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Viscum sertularia Viscum platycaulon Phoradendron dichotomum Aspidixia articulata Aspidixia attenuata Aspidixia dichotoma Korthalsella aoraiensis Viscum compressum Viscum philippense Viscum attenuatum Viscum aoraiense Viscum aphyllum Bifaria aoraiensis Viscum articulatum Viscum flexuosum Korthalsella articulata Viscum articulatum var. dichotomum