Volume 7 > Part 4 > Year 2002 > Page 717 > Viscaceae > Viscum

6. Viscum nepalense Spreng.wfo-0001272013

Syst. Veg. Cur. Post. 47. 1827; Danser, Blumea 4: 283. 1941; Barlow, Fl. Mal. I, 13: 437. 1997.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Plant slender to robust, pendulous. Stem internodes flattened, widest above the middle or at the apex, with 1–5 (usually 3) longitudinal veins raised and distinct on each side and the middle one often more prominent, 20–60 mm long, 3–10 mm wide. Leaves rudimentary, erect, 0.2–0.3 mm long. Inflorescence axillary, a sessile cymule of 3 flowers subtended by a cupule ca 1 mm long, with subsidiary cymules developing below and around the first one, with the central flower female and the lateral flowers female or male; central female flower subtended by its own bracteal cupule oriented decussately to the lower one. Fruit globose or slightly ellipsoid, sessile, smooth, pale coloured, usually yellowish.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Lampang; NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun; SOUTH-WESTERN: Nakhon Nayok.

Distribution : From India eastwards to S China and south to Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

Ecology : Mostly in lowlands from 0–500 m alt., less frequently to 1,400 m, in mangroves and open and closed forests, on many hosts but commonly on Ficus. In Thailand from 40–1,050 m alt., recorded mostly from deciduous dipterocarp forests; apart from one record as parasitic on Cassia siamea, the Thailand records mostly show epiparasitism, usually on Dendrophthoe, with recorded ultimate hosts Buchanania, Meliantha, Pentacme and Shorea spp. This contrasts with the situation in Malesia, where epiparasitism is less common in this species, and weakens the distinction between Viscum nepalense and V. articulatum (see note below).

Notes: For note on distinction from other leafless species of Viscum, see under V. articulatum.