LORANTHACE.E MISTLETOE FAMILY 



AMERICAN MISTLETOE 



Phoradendron flavescens. 

 Phoradendron, tree-thief, because of its parasitic habit. 



A many-jointed, much branching, yellowish green shrub, six 

 to twelve inches high, parasitic on the branches of deciduous 

 leaved trees ; notably the tupelo and the maples. Of southern 

 range, yet appears in the southern counties of New Jersey, Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, as well as throughout the 

 south. 



Leaves. Opposite, obscurely three-nerved, three-fourths to 

 one and a half inches long, oval, oblong or obovate, wedge- 

 shaped at base, obtuse at apex, thick, yellow green above and 

 beneath. Petioles short. 



Flowers. May, July. Dioecious, in short catkin-like jointed 

 spikes, usually several to each short fleshy bract or scale, and 

 sunk in the joint. Calyx globular, three-lobed ; in the stami- 

 nate flowers a sessile anther is borne on the base of each lobe, 

 transversely two-celled ; each cell opening by a pore or slit ; in 

 the pistillate flowers the calyx-tube adheres to the ovary; stigma 

 sessile. Berry globose, white, fleshy. 



Our American Mistletoe is not the same species as 

 the European Mistletoe, though greatly resembling it. 

 Its range is southern, yet it appears sparingly within 

 our northern lines. 



The name Tree-thief is well deserved, for the plant 



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