Amyema congener


Amyema congener, commonly known as the variable mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae from eastern Australia. It is found on members of the genera Allocasuarina, Acacia and some exotic species.
Franz Sieber first described this species as Loranthus congener in 1829, before Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem gave it its current binomial name in 1894.
It grows as shrubby plant, with either an erect or pendant habit, from a tree branch or trunk. It is attached to the host tree by a globular woody base. The stems and foliage are smooth. The thick leathery leaves are spear-shaped to oval or obovate and measure in length and across. Flowers can be seen at any time of year. The diameter round fruit ripen over the summer, and the single seed within is contained in a sticky membrane.
The principal host plant of the variable mistletoe is the black sheoak also forest oak, gossamer wattle, white feather honeymyrtle, prickly-leaved tea tree, prickly-leaved paperbark, snow-in-summer, green native cascarilla, red olive plum, as well as introduced trees such as peach and plum trees, pear trees, and oleander. It is only occasionally on gum trees such as Eucalyptus obtusifolia and smooth-barked apple Angophora costata.
The mistletoebird eats the fruit.
Scale insect species such as Ceroplastes cerciferus, C. rubens, and Aspidiotus aurantii can attack the plant.
The seed immediately begins to germinate and soon penetrates the vascular system of the tree and creates a physiological connection with the xylem of the new host. From that point, the seedling begins to obtain water and mineral nutrients from the host.