108 LOEANTHACEAE. 



Family 1. LORANTHACEAE D. Don. 

 MISTLETOE FAMILY. 



Parasitic green shrubs or herbs, containing chlorophyll, growing on 

 woody plants and absorbing food from their sap through specialized 

 roots called haustoria (a few tropical species terrestrial). Leaves in the 

 following genera opposite, in Eazoumofskya reduced to opposite scales. 

 Flowers regular, terminal or axillary, dioecious or monoecious, and peri- 

 anth simple, or in some genera perfect, and with perianth of both calyx 

 and corolla. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary. Stamens 26. Ovary soli- 

 tary, erect ; style simple or none ; stigma terminal, undivided, obtuse. 

 Fruit a berry. Seed solitary, its testa indistinguishable from the endo- 

 sperm, which is usually copious and fleshy; embryo terete or angled. 

 About 21 genera and 500 species, widely distributed; most abundant in 

 tropical regions. 



Perianth of two series of parts ; flowers mostly perfect. 1. Dendropemon. 



Perianth of one series of parts; flowers imperfect. 2. Phoractendron. 



1. DENDROPEMON Blume, in Schultes, Syst, 7: 1729. 1830. 



Parasitic shrubs, with opposite, coriaceous or somewhat fleshy, mostly flat 

 leaves, and small, axillary, bracteolate flowers in simple axillary spikes or 

 racemes, the bractlets connate, cupulate. Calyx-limb truncate or 4-6 toothed, 

 Petals usually 5 or 6, small. Stamens short, borne at the base of the petals; 

 anthers dorsifixed. Style short; stigma terminal. Fruit a small, fleshy berry. 

 [Greek, injurious to trees.] About 15 species, natives of the West Indies. 

 Type species: Lorantlius parvifolius Sw. 



Plants glabrous, not scaly. 



Leaves long-petiolecl ; berrv oblong to obovoid. 1. D. purpureus. 



Leaves subsessile ; berry subglobose. 2. D. brevipes. 



Inflorescence scaly. 



Leaves mostly acute ; twigs angular ; inflorescence densely 



scaly. 3. D. bahamensis. 



Leaves rounded, emarginate or cuspidulate ; twigs terete ; 



inflorescence lightly scaly. 4. D. emarginatus. 



1. Dendropemon purpureus (L.) Krug & Urban, Bot. Jahrb. 24: 26. 1897. 



purpureum L. Sp. PI. 1023. 1753. 

 Loranthus uniflorus A. Eich. Ess. Fl. Cub. 648. 1845. Not. Jacq. 1760. 



Smooth, not at all scaly ; branches 2-4 dm. long, a little flattened when 

 young, soon terete. Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, 3-6 cm. long, obtuse, sub- 

 truncate or acute at the apex and usually mueronulate, rarely retuse, narrowed 

 a,t the base, the petioles 3-12 mm. long; racemes glabrous, several-many- 

 flowered, as long as the leaves or shorter, the peduncles somewhat flattened; 

 pedicels 1-3 mm. long; bractlets connate to about the middle; flowers reddish; 

 berry obovoid-cylindric, blue-black, or red, or black with a red base, 5-8 mm. 

 long. 



On trees, Andros, New Providence, Caicos : Cuba ; Hispaniola ; Porto Rico. 

 Catesby 2 : pi. 95. SMOOTH MISTLETOE. 



2. Dendropemon brevipes Britton, sp. nov. 



Smooth throughout, not at all scaly; young branches slightly flattened, the 

 older terete, 3 dm. long or less. Leaves oval to elliptic-obovate, dull green, 



