Muellerina celastroides

Muellerina celastroides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Loranthaceae
Genus: Muellerina
Species:
M. celastroides
Binomial name
Muellerina celastroides
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]

Dendrophthoe celastroides (Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f.) Mart.
Loranthus celastroides Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f.
Phrygilanthus celastroides (Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f.) Eichler nom. illeg.
Loranthus celastroides var. typicus Domin nom. inval.
Loranthus celastroides Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f. var. celastroides
Loranthus tenuiflorus Hook.f.
Loranthus maytenifolius A.Gray
Muellerina raoulii (Tiegh.) Tiegh.
Loranthus raoulii Tiegh.
Amyema maytenifolia (A.Gray) Tiegh.
Hookerella tenuiflora (Hook.f.) Tiegh.
Phrygilanthus raoulii (Tiegh.) Engl. nom. illeg.
Phrygilanthus tenuiflorus (Hook.f.) Engl. nom. illeg.

Muellerina celastroides, common names Banksia mistletoe and coast mistletoe,[3] is a hemiparasitic aerial shrub in the family Loranthaceae.[4] The species is endemic to New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.[4][5]

Description

Muellerina celastroides is an erect or spreading plant which is smooth except for the inflorescence axis which is covered with minute, brown, densely matted woolly hairs.[6][7] The leaves are oblong to elliptic and 2.5–7 cm long and 15–25 mm wide, with a rounded apex and an attenuate base.[6][7] The inflorescence is a raceme of 1–3 pairs of triads, with the stems of lateral flowers being 3–6 mm long.[6][7] The calyx is entire and about 1 mm long.[6][7] The corolla in mature bud is 22–35 mm long.[6][7] The anthers are about 1.5 mm long, with the free part of filament being 8–13 mm long.[7] The fruit is pear-shaped, 7–11 mm long, and green grading to light red.[6][7]

Ecology

The most frequently recorded hosts on which M. celastroides grows are Allocasuarina, Banksia, and Eucalyptus species, but it frequently is found on exotics and on other mistletoes.[3] An inventory of host plants for Muellerina celastroides is given by Downey.[8][9]

Muellerina celastroides hosts the butterflies: Delias nigrina, Delias argenthona, Hypochrysops digglesii, Ogyris abrota, Ogyris zosine and Candelides margarita.[3][10]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Franz Sieber in 1829 as Loranthus celastroides.[1][11] It was redescribed by van Tieghem in 1895 as Muellerina celastroides.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "APNI: Muellerina celastroides". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b van Tieghem, P.E.L. (1895) Sur Les Loranthoidées De La Nouvelle-Zélande. ISSN 0037-8941 Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France 42(1): 23–30. doi:10.1080/00378941.1895.10830569 PDF (p.25).
  3. ^ a b c Watson, D.M. (2011) Mistletoes of Southern Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria
  4. ^ a b Quirico, A.L. "Muellerina celastroides". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ Barlow, B.A. in George, A.S. (ed.) (1984), Loranthaceae. Flora of Australia 22: 90, Fig. 23B, Map 102
  6. ^ a b c d e f Barlow, B.A. (1984) Flora of Australia online: Muellerina celastroides. Data derived from Flora of Australia Volume 22 (1984), a product of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia
  7. ^ a b c d e f g PlantNet:Description of Muellerina celastroides (Quirico, A.L. 1992. Flora of NSW 3) Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  8. ^ Downey, P.O. (1998) An inventory of host species for each aerial mistletoe species (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) in Australia. (Cunninghamia 5(3) 685-720)
  9. ^ Downey, P.O. (2004) A regional examination of the mistletoe host species inventory. (Cunninghamia 8(3) 354-361)
  10. ^ Moss, J.T. & Kendall, R. (2016) The Mistletoes of subtropical Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc. Runcorn Queensland.
  11. ^ Schultes, J.A. & Schultes, J.H. (1829,1830), Systema Vegetabilium Edn. 16, 7(2): 163, 1614, 1784