Flora of North America species comparison

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Phoradendron capitellatum

downy mistletoe, hairy mistletoe, woolly mistletoe
Habit Subshrubs, erect but pendulous with age, 3–6 dm, dioecious.
Stems

green, densely hairy, hairs stellate, fine, white;

internodes terete, 5–15 × 1–2 mm.
Leaves

green, well developed;

petiole indistinct;

blade narrowly elliptic to spatulate or oblanceolate, 8–15 × 1–3 mm, fleshy, base cuneate, apex rounded or acute;

basal phyllotaxy median.
Flowers

petals 3, 1 mm.
Berries

pinkish white, globose, 3.5 × 3.5 mm, glabrous.
Staminate

inflorescences 3–5 mm;

peduncle with 1 internode, 0.5–2.5 mm;

fertile internodes 1–2, each 6-flowered, seriation unknown, flowers 3 (2 proximal, 1 distal) per bract.
Pistillate

inflorescences 3–5 mm;

peduncle with 1 internode, 0.5–2.5 mm;

fertile internodes 1–2, each 2-flowered, flowers 1 per bract, deeply embedded in axis.
2n

= 28.

Phoradendron capitellatum
Phenology Flowering winter.
Habitat Juniper-pinyon woodlands.
Elevation 1000–2000 m. (3300–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
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Discussion

Phoradendron capitellatum is parasitic exclusively on Juniperus (for example, J. monosperma, J. osteosperma, and J. pinchotii). This species has sometimes been classified as a subspecies of P. bolleanum; however, it differs in flowering time, basal phyllotaxy, stellate pubescence, and inflorescences sometimes with more than one fertile internode. These two species, along with P. juniperinum, were supported as monophyletic using molecular data, although relationships among them were not fully resolved (V. E. T. M. Ashworth 2000). These parasites of conifers were all classified in sect. Pauciflorae Engler in the sense of D. Wiens (1964).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 436.
Parent taxa Viscaceae > Phoradendron
Sibling taxa
P. bolleanum, P. californicum, P. juniperinum, P. leucarpum, P. rubrum, P. villosum
Synonyms P. bolleanum var. capitellatum
Name authority Torrey ex Trelease: Phoradendron, 25, plate 17. (1916)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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