Baandaa / Oriental Mistletoe
Viscum orientale
- Habit
- Parasite
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh
- Flowering
- November-March
How to identify Baandaa
Identify Baandaa by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a parasite habit.
- Confirm leaf type: Leafless jointed green stems.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: November-March.
- In India, compare location records such as West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh.
- Confirm it sits within the Loranthaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Baandaa.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Viscum orientale
- Genus
- Viscum
- Family
- Loranthaceae
- Habit
- Parasite
- Habitat
- On trees including mangrove plants, moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Malay Peninsula, New Guinea, Australia
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- November-March
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Leafless jointed green stemsrecorded
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Characters marked “recorded” are for Baandaa itself; the rest are typical of the Loranthaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Berry
Typical of the Loranthaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- बांदा Baandaa
- Kannada
- Asarebanda, Asura banda, asurabanda
- Malayalam
- Itthilkanni
About Baandaa
Oriental Mistletoe (Viscum orientale) belongs to the Loranthaceae family, where it grows as a parasitic plant. In India it has been recorded in West Bengal, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. It grows in on trees including mangrove plants, moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from November to March.
Loranthaceae
Mistletoe Family
Baandaa belongs to the Loranthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Loranthaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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