Abstract
THE plant family Loranthaceæ (mistletoes, etc.) contains several hundred species, almost all partial parasitic shrubs growing on the branches of trees. The following species are terrestrial shrubs or trees: Nuytsia floribunda R.Br., of Western Australia, several South American species of Gaiadendron G. Don, and Atkinsonia ligustrina (A. Cunn. ex F. Muell.) F. Muell., which is known only from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, where it occurs sporadically on dry rocky ridges. This small group of terrestrial species is stated by various authors (for example, Macgregor Skene1; Moore and Betche2) to be non-parasitic; but Herbert3 has shown that Nuytsia floribunda is a root parasite, as was indeed conjectured by Harvey4 in 1854. It attacks a wide range of hosts, including both native and introduced species. Atkinsonia ligustrina has now been investigated at Woodford, N.S.W., and shown to form haustoria attached to the roots of several host species, including Acacia intertexta Sieb., Platysace linearifolia (Cav.) Norman (syn. Trachymene linearis Spreng.) and the narrow-leaved form of Leptospermum attenuatum Sm. Thus, of the terrestrial Loranthaceæ, only the species of Gaiadendron (with which Atkinsonia ligustrina was associated systematically by Bentham and Hooker5 and by Engler6) are not known to be parasitic. It would not be surprising if they too should prove to be root parasites.
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References
Skene, M., “The Biology of the Flowering Plants” (Sedgwick and Jackson, London, 1924).
Moore, C., and Betche, E., “Handbook of the Flora of New South Wales” (Government Printer, Sydney, 1893).
Herbert, D. A., J. and Proc. Roy. Soc. W. Aust., 5, 72 (1918–19).
Anonymous, “Memoir of W. H. Harvey, M.D., F.R.S.” (Bell and Daldy, London, 1869).
Bentham, G., and Hooker, J. D., “Genera Plantarum”, 3, 212 (Reeve, London, 1883).
Engler, A., “Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien”, Teil 3, 1, 178 (Engelmann, Leipzig, 1894).
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McKEE, H. Root Parasites in Loranthaceæ. Nature 170, 40 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/170040a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/170040a0
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