Dendrophthoe falcata
| Dendrophthoe falcata | |
|---|---|
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| Dendrophthoe falcata in Hyderabad , India. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Santalales |
| Family: | Loranthaceae |
| Genus: | Dendrophthoe |
| Species: | D. falcata |
| Binomial name | |
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Dendrophthoe falcata (L.f.) Ettingsh |
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Dendrophthoe falcata is one of the hemiparasitic plants that belong to the Loranthaceae family of mistletoes. It is the most common of all the mistletoes that occur in India. At the moment reports say that it has around 401 plant hosts. The genus Dendrophthoe comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia (Flora of China, 2003) among which 7 species are found in India.
D.falcata bears grey barks, thick coriaceous leaves variable in shape with stout flowers (Wealth of India. 2002). The flowering inflorescences in D.falcata was previously referred to as axillary or as one developing on the scars of fallen leaves, but Y.P.S Pundir (1996) verified it to be of strictly cauliflorous nature and also notified that it shares fundamental similarity to that of Ficus glomerata, F. pomifera and F. hispida. Two of its varieties are widespread in India namely, var. falcata (honey suckled mistletoe) and var. coccinea (red honey suckled mistletoe) distinguished by occurrence of white and red flowering, respectively (Flowers of India). To date, D.falcata represents the only known mistletoe with the largest global host range (Calvin and Wilson, 2009) which is continuously and rapidly widening.
Among angiosperms, parasitic relationship through the formation of haustorial linkages is known to be widespread (Wilson and Calvin, 2006). In general, haustorial connections among 72 (of the 75) ariel parasitic genera may belong to either of the four types viz., epicortical roots (ERs), clasping unions, wood roses, and bark strands (Calvin and Wilson, 1998). ERs may run along the host branches in either direction forming haustorial structures at variable intervals while “unions” occur as single points of attachment of individual parasites hence pronounced as solitary. In D.falcata on different hosts two of the haustorial kinds have been observed viz., solitary unions as on Sugar apple (Annona squamosa), and epicortical roots as on Sapota (Achras zapota), guava (Psidium guajava), pomegranate (Punica granatum) have been known. It is unknown about what factors decide formation of different haustorial types by the leafy mistletoe on different hosts. The host branches infected with D.falcata show a gradual reduction in growth and diameter as compared to other healthy uninfected branches (Karunaichamy et al., 1999). This mistletoe does not have an indigenous rooting system and is dependent on the host for water and minerals. Nutrient dynamics have shown that a higher titre of N, P, K, Mg and Na in the leaves of mistletoe than the leaves of uninfected and infected hosts which may be due to differential translocation of elements within the host phloem (Surya Prakash et al., 1967; Karunaichamy et al., 1999). The haustorial connections of the parasite with the plant are devoid of any efficient retranslocation system (Smith and Stewart, 1990).
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