198 LORANTHACEAE 
Decaisnina 
DECAISNINA Tieghem 
A genus of c. 30 species distributed from the Philippines, Tahiti to northern Australia; c. 6 species in 
Australia with 3 recorded in the NT. Only D. signata is recognised for the DR. 
D. signata (EMuell. ex Benth.) Tieghem 
Glabrous. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; blades 
lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or elliptic, straight 
or falcate, 40-175 mm long, 15-65 mm wide, L/B 
1-5, truncate or cordate at base, apex acute to rounded. 
Inflorescence axis 30-65 mm long, bearing 2-7 pairs 
of triads on peduncles 1.5-7.5 mm long; all flowers 
sessile; bracts c. 2 mm long. Calyx entire or shallowly 
lobed, 0.5-1.3 mm long. Corolla 6-merous, red 
below, usually green or cream above, 18-34 mm 
long; petals united at base. Fruit orange, often with 
pale longitudinal stripes, ellipsoid, 7-10 mm long. 
Flowering and fruiting: most months. Fig. 66, 
front cover. 
From the Kimberley to Ahem Land. Common in 
the DR in monsoon forest and woodland. Host trees 
are genera associated with monsoon forest. In 
Darwin it is common on many ornamental species. 
D. signata is part of a complex within which Barlow 
(1984a) recognises 3 species, each with two sub- 
species. The two subspecies under D. signata differ 
by subsp. cardiophylla (Domin) Barlow having 
sessile leaves with a cordate base while the typical 
subspecies has shortly petiolate leaves with a 
truncate base. The other two closely related species, 
D. brittenii (Blakely) Barlow and D. petiolata 
(Barlow) Barlow, differ from D. signata and each 
other only on leaf shape. D. brittenii has linear to 
narrowly lanceolate leaves and is found typically 
on Melaleuca or Barringtonia in swamps or coastal 
floodplains. Within the DR it is known only from 
the Wildman/Mary River area. D. petiolata has 
broader, more elliptic leaves. It is also rare in the 
DR with collections only from the Tiwi Islands. An 
examination of NT material shows a continuum 
of variation in leaf shape between all these taxa. 
Consequently they are not recognised here. 
DENDROPHTHOE Mart. 
Leaves displaced opposite (in NT). Inflorescence an axillary raceme. Petals 5, united to middle or higher 
into a curved tube, corolla in bud abruptly narrowing in apical third. Anthers basifixed, 4-locular. 
A genus of c. 30 species distributed from tropical Africa to Australia. Three species in the NT; 2 occur in the 
DR. 
1. Inflorescence glabrous or ovary with sparse white indumentum ............sseecseessessseesseeesees D. glabrescens 
1. Inflorescence and ovary with whitish tomentUM ...........sssssssessseesesteseseeseeteneeteneseeneseeeenenees D. odontocalyx 
D. glabrescens (Blakely) Barlow 
Glabrous or ovary sparsely hairy. Petioles 5-12 mm 
long. Leaf blades lanceolate to elliptic, 40-135 mm 
long, 15-50 mm wide, L/B 1.8-4.9. Inflorescence axis 
8-35 mm long, flowers 3-9; pedicels 2-6 mm long; 
bracts c. 2 mm long. Calyx entire or weakly toothed, 
1-1.5 mm long. Corolla orange, 26-40 mm long. Fruit 
red, ellipsoid, 7-12 mm long. Flowering: Feb - Oct; 
fruiting: Jan - July. Fig. 66 
Widespread from WA to NSW. In the DR known 
only from Wangi Station. Mostly in savanna on 
Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Erythrophleum and other 
genera. 
D. odontocalyx (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Tieghem 
Young shoots, inflorescence, calyx, corolla and 
ovary white tomentose. Petioles 4-10 mm long. Leaf 
blades almost linear to elliptic or lanceolate, 43-140 
mm long, 5-47 mm wide, L/B 2.3-16. Inflorescence 
axis 5-20 mm long, with 3-6 flowers; pedicels 2-4 
mm long; bracts 1.5-2.5 mm long. Calyx c. 1 mm 
long, prominently toothed. Corolla orange to red, 
15-40 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid to ovoid, 12-13 mm 
long. Flowering: most months; fruiting: July - Nov. 
Fig. 66 
From WA to Qld; common in the DR in Eucalypt 
savanna. Found on a wide variety of hosts. 
