| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Perennial, shrub, generally ± green, parasitic on aboveground parts of woody plants, dioecious or monoecious
Stem brittle; 2° branches generally many
Leaves simple, entire, opposite, 4-ranked, with blade or leaves scale-like (then each pair generally fused)
Inflorescence: spikes or open cymes, generally axillary, sometimes terminal; bracts opposite, 4-ranked, scale-like, each pair fused
Flower unisexual, radial, 2–4 mm; perianth parts in generally ± 1 series
Staminate flower: perianth parts 3–4(7); anthers generally ± sessile, opposite and generally on perianth parts
Pistillate flower: perianth parts generally 2–4; ovary inferior, 1-chambered, style unbranched, stigma ± obscure
Fruit: berry, shiny, gelatinous
Seeds 1(–2), without thickened coat
Genera in family: 7 genera, ± 450 species: tropical, generally n temp
Reference: [Kuijt 1982 J Arnold Arbor 63:401–410]
Sometimes included in Loranthaceae; parasitic on plants in many other families. Frs generally dispersed by birds or seeds explosively ejected.All parts of most members may be TOXIC .
Shrub, woody at least at base, glabrous or hairy, dioecious in CA
Stem generally > 20 cm, rounded, green, less often reddish
Leaf with blade or leaf scale-like (then each pair fused)
Inflorescence: spikes, many-flowered, open or ± interrupted, short-peduncled; flowers sunken into axis
Flower: perianth parts generally 3
Staminate flower: anthers 2-chambered
Pistillate flower: perianth parts persistent
Fruit ± 3–6 mm, ± spheric, 1-colored, white, pink, or reddish, maturing (in temp) in 2 seasons, dispersed by consumption (by birds); pedicel 0
Species in genus: ± 200 species: temp, tropical Am
Etymology: (Greek: tree thief)
P. tomentosum (DC.) A. Gray collected in Texas for sale nationally in Christmas trade; other species similarly important locally
Reference: [Wiens 1974 Brittonia 16:11–54]
| Native |
Stem > 1 m, ± erect, green, short-hairy, especially near tip, ± glabrous in age; internodes 22–59 mm
Leaf 30–42 mm, 15–23 mm wide, obovate to elliptic-round, ± petioled to ± not, generally glabrous, if hairy not very densely so
Staminate inflorescence: fertile internodes 2–5(7), generally 30–35-flowered
Pistillate inflorescence: fertile internodes 2–4(5), 6–10(20)-flowered
Fruit ± 4–5 mm, white, pink-tinged or not, glabrous
Chromosomes: n=14
Ecology: On woody dicots other than Quercus (especially Alnus, Fraxinus, Juglans, Platanus, Populus, Prosopis, Robinia, Salix )
Elevation: < 1200 m.
Bioregional distribution: Outer North Coast Ranges, Inner North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Central Valley, Central Western California, South Coast, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Desert
Distribution outside California: to Colorado, w Texas, Baja California
Flowering time: Dec–Mar
Synonyms: P. flavescens (Pursh) A. Gray var. m. Engelm.; P. tomentosum subsp. m. (Engelm.) Wiens