Botanical Family · Santalales

Loranthaceae

Mistletoe Family

16 speciesOrder Santalales8+ well-known plants

The Loranthaceae family (Mistletoe Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Santalales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 16 species across 9 genera. Its members are predominantly parasites. Well-represented genera include Viscum, Dendrophthoe and Macrosolen. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Long-leaved Mistletoe, Rubbery Mango Mistletoe and Four-Stamen Mistletoe.

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Representative specimen · Loranthaceae

Key pattern

Opposite, leathery leaves on woody hemi-parasitic shrubs that graft directly into a host tree's branches; small radially symmetrical flowers ripen into a sticky berry, its seed spread when birds wipe their beak on a nearby branch.

True parasites that tap directly into a host tree's vascular system for water and minerals while still photosynthesising themselves — a lifestyle called hemi-parasitism.

Identify the species

Which Loranthaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Loranthaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan

Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?

Glabrous (smooth, hairless)

Pubescent (softly hairy)

Tomentose (woolly, matted hairs)

Leaf TypeDoes the plant have normal leaves, or jointed green leafless stems?

Leafless jointed green stems

Normal leafy shrub

Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Loranthaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method