berries , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Mistletoe , Other parasites , Science

Missouri Mistletoe looks European

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Here’s a puzzler. Some background first – in the USA the native mistletoes are very different to our European Viscum album and, in multiple ways, inferior in appearance (branching, leaf shape, berry size etc) to ours. The species used at Christmas over there are mostly from the mistletoe genus Phoradendron, which do at least have evergreen leaves and white berries, they’re just not as good-looking!  (not to mention not being, actually, the genuine mistletoe of […]

berries , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , germination , Mistletoe , Other parasites , Science

Parasitic plants in spring, Part 2

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Picking up from my recent post about spring parasites that aren’t mistletoe, here are some pictures of what mistletoe seeds do in spring. And that is, mostly, germinating. On any old surface.  As the seeds won’t know, until the seedling tries to attach itself to a host, whether it is sitting on a host or not.  Interestingly, for these few weeks of germination, the mistletoe plant is independent, not parasitic, and relies on the resources […]

Biodiversity , Blogroll , Mistletoe , Other parasites

Parasitic plants in spring, Part 1

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

A parasitic plants update, the first of two (maybe three!) parts. This Part 1  isn’t about mistletoe (see Part 2 for that). Because now is the season for spotting other plant parasites – the ones that parasitise host roots not, as mistletoe does, host branches. It is also, of course, the season for spotting mistletoe seeds germinating – and that’s what Part 2 will be about. For now though it is root parasites – starting […]

Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Mistletoe , Other parasites

A back garden parasitic plant safari

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Parasites in lockdown – a round-up of the parasitic plants I’m growing in our garden this year, so far: Not just mistletoe, but also dodders (two species), broomrape (one species – another due soon) and yellow rattle. And an aspiration for Lousewort and a hope of Toothworts (two). Firstly mistletoe, obviously. There’s lots of that (I wonder why?!). These are young growths, about 4 or 5 years old, planted by Blackcaps on an already mistletoe-laden […]