20 THE LORANTIiACEAE OF AUSTRALIA^ i.. 



and L. alyxifolms are species which show the bent character of the style whea 

 in bud. 



Dispersal and Distribution. 



The dispersal and distribution of Loranthus has been the subject of muciv 

 discussion. An examination of the seedling parasites in the field discloses the 

 fact that birds are the chief agents of distribution, as many young seedlings 

 will be found adhering to the branches of trees and other objects, and in some 

 instances small clumps of 3 to 6 seedlings, sometimes of different species, will 

 be seen growing together, the seeds having been deposited by birds. 



Loranthiis is a light-loving plant, and is found in the most exposed situa- 

 tions, along the mountain spurs and ridges, usually with a northerly, easterly 

 or westerly aspect, in open forest country, along the main roads in the vicinity 

 of cultivation, also around orchards and large gardens. The scrub land affords 

 but few species, and they are more often found on the fringe, rarely in the 

 dense scrubs. Some species prefer the coastal area, othei-s the dry interior, 

 while a few keep to the sub-ti'opical regions. Thus Loramthus in common with 

 other plants, has its barriers to migration. This may be accounted for by the 

 fact that some species are less hardy than others, and cannot live beyond cer- 

 tain latitudes, and consequently become confined to limited areas, while the 

 dissemination of the hardier species may be controlled by the limitations of 

 their migratory agents of dissemination. 



The distribution of Loramthus is most marked along open water courses, 

 both on the coast and in the interior. In well-watered country the parasite is 

 widespread. In the drier interior it is less common, although in some places 

 in the desert country it is apparently abundant. 



In the desert, the absence of large or suitable host plants is probably the 

 compensating factor, as Loranthus makes the most of its host and sometimes, 

 through the favourable position of the first attachment, it increases by the 

 seeds falling on to the lower branches of the host, developing into strong plants, 

 which almost take possession of the host. 



The habit of the birds that feed upon the flowers or fruits of Loranthus 

 is also to be reckoned with. They are peculiarly regular in their habits when 

 feeding upon the parasites, for they fly from Loranth to Loranth with the 

 greatest precision, methodically searching for newly-opened flowers or ripe 

 fruits. It was thought at one time that the "Mistletoe Bird," Dicaeum hirundin- 

 aceum, which feeds upon the ripe fruits of the Loranthaceae, was the sole 

 agent of distribution of these parasites, but quite a number of birds feed upon 

 the flowers and fruits of Loranthus, as the following records will show : Writ- 

 ing of the Mistletoe Bird, Dr. E. P. Eamsay (These "Proc, 2nd Ser., i., 1886, y. 

 1093) says, "This species is universally dispersed over the whole of Australia; 

 feeds on berries and fruits of various kinds, but seems to prefer those of the 

 Loranthus, of which we have in Australia so many varieties if not species, and 

 of a Viscum (V. aureum), which is only found as a parasite on the Loranthus; 

 this plainly accounts for the distribution of the Loranthus and Viscum all over 

 the districts frequented by the Dicaeum, and in which it is locally known as the 

 Mistletoe Bird." 



Professor R. Tate (Kept. Horn Sei. Exped., iii. (Geol. and Bot.), p. 129) 

 writes, "The little Dicaeum hinmdin.aceuw. lives chiefly on the berries of Loranthus 

 spp., and in consequence the di-stribution of the bird is coterminous with that of 

 its food plants . . . Tasmania and Kangaroo Island, where the bird is absent, 

 do not produce a single species of Loranthus." 



