Muellerina bidwillii facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Muellerina bidwillii |
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| Muellerina bidwillii (artist F.C.Wills) | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Muellerina (plant)
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| Species: |
bidwillii
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| Where Muellerina bidwillii grows in Australia | |
| Synonyms | |
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Loranthus bidwillii Benth. |
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The Cypress-pine mistletoe, also known as Muellerina bidwillii, is a special kind of plant. It's a shrub that grows in the air, but it's also a parasite. This means it gets some of its food and water from other plants, like a tiny plant-vampire! It belongs to the Loranthaceae family, which is the mistletoe family.
You can only find this plant growing naturally in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.
What it Looks Like
The Cypress-pine mistletoe can grow upright or spread out. Its branches and leaves are usually smooth. Sometimes, you might find a few tiny hairs on the flower stalks.
The leaves are long and narrow, like a small blade. They are about 1.5 to 3 centimeters (about 0.6 to 1.2 inches) long. They are also very thin, only about 1.5 to 3 millimeters (about 0.06 to 0.12 inches) wide. The veins on the leaves are hard to see.
The flowers grow in small groups of two. Each flower group sits on a short stalk, about 3 to 6 millimeters long. When the flower bud is ready to open, it is about 20 to 27 millimeters long.
The flowers have small parts called anthers, which are about 1 to 1.5 millimeters long. The part that holds the anther is about 8 to 10 millimeters long. After the flowers, the plant grows small fruits. These fruits are pink or red and can be shaped like a pear or a ball. They are about 6 to 8 millimeters long.
How it Lives
The Cypress-pine mistletoe is a parasitic plant. This means it attaches itself to other plants and takes some of their water and nutrients. It doesn't kill its host plant, but it does rely on it to survive.
Its favorite plants to grow on are Callitris species, especially the White Cypress-pine (Callitris glaucophylla). Scientists have studied which plants this mistletoe likes to live on.
Plant Names and History
The Cypress-pine mistletoe was first given a scientific name in 1867 by a scientist named George Bentham. He called it Loranthus bidwillii.
Later, in 1962, another scientist named B.A. Barlow gave it its current name, Muellerina bidwillii. He also wrote a more detailed description of the species in 1984.
Gallery
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The special root (haustorium) of the mistletoe on a Cypress-pine tree.
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A Muellerina bidwillii plant growing on a Cypress-pine tree.
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