Amyema plicatula | |
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Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Santalales |
Family: | Loranthaceae |
Genus: | Amyema |
Species: | A. plicatula
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Binomial name | |
Amyema plicatula | |
Synonyms [4] | |
Amyema angularis Barlow |
Amyema plicatula is a species of hemi- parasitic shrub found in the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, New South Wales [4] and Queensland. [5] [6]
It is an aeria,l stem-parasitic shrub, with short epicortical runners. The leaves, which are usually opposite, are elliptic to obovate, and about 5.5-11 cm by 3-8 cm, with no obvious venation. They sometimes occur in whorls of 3 to 4, on short stalks which are 0.4-0.8 cm long. [7]
The flowers occur in umbels. The primary stalk of the inflorescence is about 12-20 mm long, with the stalks in the umbels being about 5-10 mm long. The flowers in their diads or triads are stalkless. The calyx lobes are inconspicuous or non-existent. The corolla lobes are red, and about 20-23 mm by 8-10 mm. The anthers are about 3 mm long on anther filaments which are about 8 mm long. The style is about 20 mm long. [7]
The ovary is about 2-3 mm long, and the fruits are ellipsoid to obovoid, about 7-10 mm long, and the calyx limb and style often persists at the apex of the fruit. [7]
In New South Wales it is found in remnant rainforests of the North Coast. [6] In Queensland it is known from just one collection in the north east [7] Outside Australia it has been found in rainforests and open humid forests from sea level to 1600 metres. [6]
Amyema plicatula is member of the Santalales, the mistletoe order, placed within the family Loranthaceae. It was first described as Loranthus plicatulus by Kurt Krause from a specimen collected in New Guinea, [8] [9] but was transferred from the genus Loranthus in 1929 by Danser. [3]
The genus name, Amyema, is derived from Greek for 'without' and 'to instruct'. [10]
Downey records just one host, Dysoxylum fraseranum, in the Meliaceae family. [11]