Phoradendron leucarpum

Discussion in 'Botany Photo of the Day Submissions' started by David Smith, Dec 22, 2006.

  1. David Smith

    David Smith Member

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    I took these pictures of American mistletoe in November 2003 at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge here in Delaware (mid-Atlantic U.S.) The host plant is a red maple (Acer rubrum), I think.

    This is my first post here, but I've been enjoying the Botany Photo of the Day for a long time.
     

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Anyone cute come along while you were standing near it? If so, hopefully you were able to dart underneath it in time.
     
  3. David Smith

    David Smith Member

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    No, there was nobody under it but me. The tree was growing in shallow water (it seems that mistletoe grows lower in such trees) so they would have had to get their feet wet to be there. I wanted the pictures enough to get wet for them!
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Well, if they had come along, that would've shown a similar level of dedication as yours. All the more promising.
     
  5. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Around here we have Arceuthobium on some hemlocks. It deforms the branches, making a swelling and branchlet proliferation where it has rooted into the branch. (Parasites are sure creepy, aren't they?). If you can get up to where you can see the top side of a branch so dis-organized there are tiny tufts of dwarf mistletoe sticking out of the top. Eventually I noticed a tree right down the street was infested. I could see the dwarf mistletoe from the road. That hemlock is gone now.

    I've seen quantities of Phoradendron on oaks in California, but those up here are spared this indignity.
     

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