Sheoak mistletoe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sheoak mistletoe |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Amyema
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| Species: |
cambagei
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| Collections data for A. cambagei from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium | |
Amyema cambagei, also known as sheoak mistletoe, is a special type of flowering plant. It's an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant, which means it grows on other plants and gets some of its food from them. This plant belongs to the Loranthaceae family. You can find it only in Australia, mainly in New South Wales and Queensland. It grows in sclerophyll forests and woodlands, often on trees from the Casuarinaceae family.
Contents
What is Sheoak Mistletoe?
This mistletoe plant can spread out or hang down. Its stems are grey and have tiny hairs. The leaves are long and thin, like a pencil, usually about 6 to 15 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) long and very narrow.
Flowers and Fruit
The flowers are pink with white hairs and are about 1.5 to 2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 inches) long. They usually appear in winter and early summer, from June to December. After the flowers, the plant produces small, round fruits. These fruits are pink to red and about 5 to 6 millimeters (0.2 inches) wide.
Where Does Sheoak Mistletoe Grow?
A. cambagei is often found growing on trees like Casuarina and Allocasuarina species. It's quite clever because its leaves look very similar to the leaves of the trees it grows on. This helps it blend in with its host plant!
How Was Sheoak Mistletoe Discovered?
This plant was first described in 1922 by a scientist named William Faris Blakely. He called it Loranthus cambagei back then. Later, in 1929, another scientist named Benedictus Hubertus Danser moved it to the Amyema group, which is why it's now known as Amyema cambagei.
