Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Santalales > Viscaceae > Phoradendron > Phoradendron californicum

Phoradendron californicum (mesquite mistletoe)

Synonyms: Phoradendron californicum f. argenteum; Phoradendron californicum f. leucocarpum; Phoradendron californicum f. nanum; Phoradendron californicum var. distans; Phoradendron californicum var. leucocarpum

Wikipedia Abstract

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 (4600 feet). The mistletoe is a leafless plant that attaches to host plants, often leguminous woody desert trees such as Cercidium and Prosopis. Desert mistletoe takes water and minerals from its host plants but it does its own photosynthesis, making it a hemiparasite.
View Wikipedia Record: Phoradendron californicum

Attributes

Leaf Type [1]  Evergreen
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Structure [1]  Shrub

Protected Areas

Predators

Atlides halesus (Great purple hairstreak)[3]
Epidiaspis salicicola (salicicola scale)[4]
Phainopepla nitens (Phainopepla)[5]
Sialia mexicana (Western Bluebird)[6]

Providers

Parasite of 
Larrea tridentata (creosotebush)[6]
Olneya tesota (desert ironwood)[6]
Prosopis velutina (mesquite)[6]
Senegalia greggii (gregg catclaw)[6]
Tamarix ramosissima (saltcedar)[6]

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
3HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
5"Digestive Adaptations of Phainopepla nitens Associated with the Eating of Mistletoe Berries", Glenn E. Walsberg, The Condor Vol. 77, No. 2 (Summer, 1975), pp. 169-174
6Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0