VISCUM ALBUM subsp. CRETICUM

Family and Genus:- See- SANTALACEAE

Common Names:- Mistletoe

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Viscum (L) Ancient Latin name for Mistletoe.

Album (L) Bright, white.

Creticum (L) From Crete, Cretan.

General description:- Hemiparasitic, evergreen shrub, forming a rounded bushy

growth up to 1 m in diam., on the branches of the Calabrian pine.

Stems:-

1) 30-100 cm x 10 mm in diam. green, dichotomously branched above.

Leaves:-

1) 20-50 mm long, 10-20 mm, in opposite pairs, sessile, flat, oblanceolate,

coriaceous, obtuse, with 3-5 veins. yellowish-green.

Flowers:-

1) Inconspicuous, 2-3mm diam. in small, 1-3-flowered clusters in the branch axils,

unisexual, 4-merous, yellowish-green.

Fruit:-

1) Berry, viscid, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, semi-transparent, usually

8-10mm.

Key features:-

1) Inflorescence, sessile.

2) Berry, viscid, white or yellow.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Grows on the branches of Pinus halepensis ssp. brutia, the Calabrian

pine.

Distribution:- Cretan endemic. Restricted to a few locations in the Dikti and

Kavousi mountains.

Flowering time:- Sept-Oct.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton