108 LOEANTHACEAE. 



Family 1. LOEANTHACEAE 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 Basoumofshya 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 calys 

 and corolla. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary. Stamens 2-6. 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 iieshy; 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. Phorcutendron. 



1. DENDBOPEMON Blums, in Scliultes, Syst. 7: 1729. 1830. 



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

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

 racemes, the braetlets 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: Loranthus parvifolius Sw. 



Plants glabrous, not scaly. 



Leaves long-petioled ; berry oblong to obovoid. 1. D. purpureua. 



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



Inflorescence scaly. 



Leaves mostly acute ; twigs angular ; inflorescence densely 



scaly. 3. D. tahamensis. 



Leaves rounded, emarginate or cuspidulate ; twigs terete ; 



inflorescence lightly scaly. 4. D. emarginatus. 



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



Viscum purpureum L. Sp. PI. 1023. 1753. 



Loranthus uniflorus A. Eich. Ess. PI. Cub. 648. 1845. OSTot. Jacq. 1760. 



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

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

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

 at 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; braetlets 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 : ph 95. Smooth Mistletoe. 



2. Dendropemon hrevipes Britton, sp. nov. 



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

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



