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Mistletoe
Drooping Mistletoe - Amyema
pendula
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Mm
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Mistletoes are parasites which grow by attaching suckers to other plants and drawing nutrients from them. The Drooping Mistletoe grows mainly on eucalypts
in woodlands of south-eastern Australia.
Despite being parasites mistletoes are an important part of native
ecosystems. The flowers, for example, have a lot of nectar in them and provide food for honeyeaters and butterflies. Some butterflies lay their eggs
only on mistletoe leaves because their caterpillars will eat
nothing else. But the most interesting relationship is between the mistletoe and the Mistletoe Bird.
The Mistletoe Bird is a tiny red, white and blue bird which feeds on the fleshy, mistletoe
fruit. The berries have a large seed inside them which the bird cannot digest and so
it will pass through in its droppings. The berry, however, has very sticky liquid inside so the seeds will stick to the bird's bottom. The Mistletoe Bird will then wipe its bottom on
an empty branch to get rid of the seed which is then firmly attached to the branch so that it can germinate to form a new plant.
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