Arceuthobium divaricatum

Arceuthobium divaricatum
Secure
Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Santalaceae
Genus: Arceuthobium
Species:
A. divaricatum
Binomial name
Arceuthobium divaricatum
Synonyms[2]
  • Razoumofskya divaricata

Arceuthobium divaricatum is a species of dwarf mistletoe known as pinyon dwarf mistletoe.

Ecology

It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California in Mexico, where it lives in woodlands as a parasite on various species of pine, particularly Colorado pinyon and single-leaf pinyon.

Description

This is a small shrub which is visible as a network of scaly brown or greenish stems no more than 12 centimeters long extending above the bark of its host tree. Most of the mistletoe is located inside the host tree, attached to it via haustoria, which tap the tree for water and nutrients. The leaves of the mistletoe are reduced to thin scales on its surface. It is dioecious, with male and female mistletoe plants producing spikes of staminate and pistillate flowers, respectively. The fruit is a sticky berry a few millimeters long which explodes to disperse the seeds it contains several meters away from the parent plant and its host tree.

Taxonomy

Arceuthobium divaricatum was scientifically described and named by George Engelmann in 1878. It is classified in the Arceuthobium genus as part of the Santalaceae and has no accepted varieties, but was described as a variety of Arceuthobium campylopodum by Willis Linn Jepson in 1923. Altogether it has three homotypic synonyms.[2]

Table of Synonyms
Name Year Rank
Arceuthobium campylopodum var. divaricatum (Engelm.) Jeps. 1923 variety
Arceuthobium campylopodum f. divaricatum (Engelm.) L.S.Gill 1935 form
Razoumofskya divaricata (Engelm.) Coville 1893 species

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (31 July 2026). "Arceuthobium divaricatum". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 POWO (2026). "Arceuthobium divaricatum Engelm". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
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