Plants of the Castlemaine District.

Wire-leaf Mistletoe - native (Amyema preissii)

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Family: Loranthaceae (Mistletoe family).

Fairly common. It grows almost exclusively on wattles. A large number of Cootamundra Wattles in the Castlemaine Township have Wire-leaf Mistletoe.

It is a hemi-parasite; it relies on the host plant for water and minerals, but has chlorophyll and is able to make its own sugars and other carbohydrates.

Identification:

the flowers are red to orange

it flowers in late summer-early autumn

the leaves are wiry

it is almost always growing on wattles, particularly fern-leaf wattles.

In some parts of Castlemaine e.g. Hunter Track and Campbell Street, its host is Tree Lucerne.

Name: preissii: after a German botanist, Johann Preisse, who was a botanical collector in WA.

Photos 1: In flower. Castlemaine. 2: Fruit. The berries are eaten and so distributed by birds such as the Singing Honeyeater and Mistletoe Bird. 3: Wire-leaf Mistletoe growing on Tree Lucerne. Hunter Track. 4: Fruit. Castlemaine.