144 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Loranthus micranthus (The Small-flowered Mistletoe}. 



Leaves 1 in.-3 in. long, obovate or oblong. Flowers minute, green, J in. 

 long. Abundant throughout the islands. Fl. Oct. -Nov. 



Genus Viscum. 



Parasitical shrubs. The New Zealand species are leafless, small, with 

 flattened, jointed branches, much constricted at the joints. Flowers very 

 minute, unisexual, in spikes, or solitary, or whorled at the joints of the 

 branches. Male flower : perianth 3- or 4-leaved, anthers sessile on the perianth 

 lobes ; female flower : perianth 3- or 4-lobed. Style or short, stigma obtuse. 

 Name from the Greek. 3 sp. 



To this genus belongs the Mistletoe. Bound it clings many 

 a myth from old Keltic and Teutonic times. The New 

 Zealand species, however, are insignificant, and seem to have 

 been unnoticed by the Maoris. Their mode of attachment to 

 the host is quite unknown. The European mistletoe puts out 

 a radicle which terminates in an attachment disk, that 

 becomes cemented to the host. From the centre of this disk 

 is pushed out a " sinker " into the tissues of the branch below. 

 No further development takes place in the first year. 

 Subsequently, there is developed an extremely complicated 

 series of suckers, which may be compared to a rake in shape. 

 The process is very intricate, but highly interesting. 



Viscum salicornioides (The Salicornia-like Mistletoe). 



A small plant, much branched, 3 in. -4 in. high. Joints ^ in.- in. long, 

 rounded. Flowers very minute, solitary or few together. Perianth 3-lobed. 

 Both islands, parasitic on various shrubs. Fl. Nov. -Jan. 



Viscum Lindsayi (Lindsay's Mistletoe). 



A small plant, 4 in. -6 in. high, branching, succulent. Joints of stem flat, 

 rather longer than broad, ^ in - broad. Flowers in spikes, J in. long, very 

 minute. Perianth 3-lobed. Parasitic on Coprosma, Metrosideros, Melicope, etc. 

 Both islands. Fl. Nov.- Jan. 



G-enus Tupeia. 



Distribution. An endemic genus of one species. It does not, like 

 Loranthus, send out rhizomes which fasten themselves at many points to the 

 host, but has only one root. It is found parasitic on many different plants ; in 

 the south, perhaps, most frequently upon Nothopanax. In the north of Auckland, 



