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Lysiana exocarpi, commonly known as Harelquin Mistletoe is a species of parasitic shrub, endemic to Australia. It is in the Gondwanan family Loranthaceae and is probably the most advanced genera of that family with 12 pairs of chromosomes[1] The Loranthaceae is the most diverse family in the mistletoe group with over 900 species worldwide and including the best known species in Australia [2]. Mistletoes are notable for their relationships with other species. The Bastard Box[3] is frequently much encumbered with the twining adhering Loranthus aurantiacus which 'Scorning the soil, aloft she springs, Shakes her red plumes and clasps her golden wings. wrote Allan Cunningham in 1817.[4]

Harlequin Mistletoe
Lysiana exocarpi
CSU Herbarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
Order:
Santalales
Family:
Loranthaceae
Genus:
Lysiana

Species:
L.exocarpi
Subspecies:
subsp. exocarpi, subsp. tenuis
Binomial name
Lysiana exocarpi
Synonyms

Description edit

Description: Spreading to pendent shrub, glabrous; external runners absent. Leaves flat or somewhat compressed when very narrow, linear to narrow-oblong, sessile or the wider leaves shortly petiolate, 3–15 cm long, 1–10 mm wide, apex usually rounded, base attenuate to contracted, venation obscure; shortly petiolate. Inflorescence a pedunculate usually 2-flowered umbel; peduncle usually 0.5–2 mm long; pedicels 2–5 mm long; bracts 1–1.5 mm long. Corolla 25–50 mm long, usually red, rarely yellow, sometimes tipped with green or black. Fruit ellipsoidal to ovoid, 6–10 mm long, red or black.[7]

Subspecies edit

subsp. exocarpi edit

Leaves linear to narrow-oblong or narrow-elliptic occasionally obcordate, 3–10 mm wide, often thick or leathery when mature. Plant spreading to pendent. Parasitic on many hosts, most frequently on species of Acacia, Alectryon, Amyema, Cassia, Casuarinaceae, Eremophila, Exocarpos, and exotic trees, west from Moree district [8]. Synonym: L.exocarpi subsp. diamantinensis [9]

subsp. tenuis edit

Leaves linear, 1–3 mm wide, sometimes compressed but not terete. Plant pendent. In open woodland and forest, usually on species of Casuarinaceae, north from the Hunter Valley [10] First described by Blakely [11].

Habitat edit

Open woodland and forest, extending into semi-arid woodlands dominated by acacia[12].

L.exocarpi: Occurs in aried and temperate regions of all mainland States, from Lake Carnegie, W.A, to the Hunter Valley, NSW, in open forest and woodland on many different hosts but frequently on other Loranthaceae. L.exocarpi subsp. exocarpi: Occurs in arid and temperate Australia from Lake Carnegie, Q.A., to western Qld and central Vic; on many host species, most frequently on Acacia, Amyema, Cassia, Casuarinaceae, Eremophila, Exocarpos, [Heterodendrum] and exotic trees. A polymorphic subspecies, with a cline towards wider and thicker leaves from temperate to arid habitats. L.exocarpi subsp. tenuis: Occurs in Qld and NSW from the Darling Downs to the Hunter Valley and inland to the Western Plains, in open woodland and forest, usually on Casuarinaceae.

Flowering edit

Mainly summer.

Fire responses edit

• Life Span: from 4 years to 20 years • First seeds: 2 to 3 years • Adult fire response: Seeder (>70% mortality when subject to 100% leaf scorch) • Resprouting type: None [13]

Host plants edit

In NSW the most common hosts are species of Eucalyptus and Acacia and also Flindersia, Pittosporum, Saltalum[14] In a comprehensive study of Australian herbaria specimens, Paul Downey found that the host plants for Australian mistletoes were mostly dicotyledonous angiosperms with a small number of gymnosperms in the genera Araucaria, Callitris and Pinus. No host species were herbaceous. Every host family and genus recorded contained species which were not documented as mistletoe host species. The two major genera of host species were Eucalyptus and Acacia with 2084, and 2559 records respectively. There were 187 species of Eucalyptus and 150 species of Acacia. Seven mistletoe species commonly parasitised exotic host species including L.exocarpi. The commonly recorded exotic host species included Nerium oleander, Citrus spp., Prunus spp. Schinus areira, and Quercus spp. L.exocarpi was found in 901 records and 109 species. The host families were Apocynaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Capparaceae, Casuarinaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Loranthaceae, Malvaceae, Meliaceae, Mimosaceae, Moraceae, Myoporaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, Pittosporaceae, Polygonaceae, [[Proteaceae]], Rhamnaceae, Rutaceae, Santalaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae, Zygophyllaceae[15] In a 1990 study of L.exocarpi subsp.exocarpi in Southern South Australia, Yan found that this species showed a specific preference for Heterodendrum olefolium and Myoporum platycarpum supporting Barlow's view that all Australian mistletoes of open forest and woodland are host specific to some extent. It was also found that rainfall was a determining factor in regulating the distribution [16]

Insect and Animal Associations edit

Interactions between mistletoes and animals have long been noted and were used by Darwin as early exemplars of evolutionary adaptation with Linneaus credited as the first to describe the mistletoe life cycle. Pliny recorded similar observations some 1600 years earlier. Most species of mistletoe are dispersed by animals, chiefly birds and this close relationship has been treated as a model system in the study of fruit dispersal generally. Many insects pollinate mistletoes primarily in the Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenopteraand Lepidoptera[17]

At least 27 species of Australian butterflies use mistletoes as their host plant. The two groups are the Jezebels(Pieridae) and Azures(Lycaenidae). Upon hatching, the caterpillars subsist and grow entirely on the foliage. Although some species drop off to pupate in the ground beneath, most remain in the clump attaching their chrysalis to the tips of denuded twigs or burrowing into the bunction between mistletoe and the host tree to evade predators. The L.exocarpi is a host plant for Ogyris aenone and is a popular food plant for nectar feeding birds when in full flower.[18]

Bushfood edit

The ripeness of the berry is indicated not only by its softness, but often also by a slight translucence. When quite ripe the sticky, gelatinous, sweet pulp surrounding the single seed is pleasant to eat, but its great stickiness often make the seed almost impossible to spit out. Birds have the same difficulty and may sometimes be seen wiping their beaks free of seeds against the branch of a tree. [19]. According to Les Hiddins,Aboriginal people would eat the fruit without chewing so they wouldn't stick to the tongue [20]. Jennifer Isaacs lists berries of L.exocarpi and L.spathulata as being eaten in the Central desert [21] Peter Latz notes that the calories obtained would be rather low. Aborigines often pluck whole branches from the tree and pick off the berries at their leisure. These berries are particularly favored by children. Although all Aboriginal groups have two or more names for mistletoes, it appears that they do not give separate names to each species. The Walpiri word for both L. murrayi and L. spathulata is pawurlirri [22]. The Antakirinja people around Coober Pedy call the berries of L.exocarpi Ngantja [23]. Reference to the fruit was first contained in a letter written by Governor Gawler during an ill-fated expedition in 1939 led by Charles Sturt. Gawler to his brother-in-law, Henry Cox, 20th December 1839: The poor boy (Henry Bryan)accompanied me most cheerfully, he had been resting all day and did not appear to suffer from the subsequent exertion. He brought me the pulpy but bitter fruit of the mesembryantheumum and the little berries of the exocarpi - and ate plenty of them himself - he made many observations about our course, appearing to recollect its striking features well, and calculated our distances with much precision [24].

History edit

  •  
    Specimen type collected by Hans Herman Behr in Barossa in 1844-45 and published in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, NSW in 1925.

L.exocarpi was first collected from Spencer's Gulf in 1802 by Robert Brown[25]. It was first described as Loranthus exocarpi by Hans Hermann Behr in 1847 [26] after his first visit to Australia 1844-45. Behr was the first botanist to systematically collect and study the flora of the Barossa Range, mallee scrubs towards the River Marne and areas adjacent to the River Murray at Moorundie. Dietrich von Schlechtendahl treated 200 plants collected by Behr, of which he described 62 as being new species: a further five, including Loranthus exocarpi were described by Behr [27]. In 1894 Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem published a revision of Loranthus and created a new genus Lysiana. The name is based on the Greek lyo - I set free - referring to the separation of the genus from Loranthus[28].

References edit

  1. ^ Barlow, B.A. (1984). Loranthaceae. In Flora of Australia and New Zealand. (Ed. A.S. George) Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra. Vol 22, p.80.
  2. ^ Watson, D. (2011). Mistletoes of Southern Australia, CSIRO Publishing, p.9.
  3. ^ An early epithet for hard wood eucalyptus. Early colonialist found it difficult to work with and hence a 'bastard' and similar to 'box'
  4. ^ Robinson,L.(1994). Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, 2nd Edition, Kangaroo Press, p.345.
  5. ^ Blakely, W.F. (1922). The Loranthaceae of Australia. Part i. From the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 1922, Vol. xlvii., Part 1, 29th March, 1922.
  6. ^ Danser, B.H. (1929) On the Taxonomy and the nomenclature of the Loranthaceae of Asia and Australia. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, Serie III. Vol. X. Livr 3. Nov. 1929. p.342
  7. ^ NSW Flora on-line: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lysiana~exocarpi
  8. ^ NSW Flora on-line:http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Lysiana~exocarpi~subsp.+exocarpi
  9. ^ Barlow, B.A. (1966). A revision of the Loranthaceae of Australia and New Zealand. Australian Journal of Botany, 1966,p.443.
  10. ^ NSW Flora on-line: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Lysiana~exocarpi~subsp.+tenuis
  11. ^ Blakely, W.F.(1925) Proceedings of the Linnean Society, New South Wales 50:8,t.5a.
  12. ^ Watson, D. (2011). Mistletoes of Southern Australia, CSIRO Publishing, p.82.
  13. ^ Gardner, M & Marrinan,M. Tropical Savannas Fire Response Database http://www.landmanager.org.au/#sort=sort_title%20asc&nid=526150
  14. ^ May, V. (1941). A Survey of the Mistletoe of New South Wales. from the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, Vol. lxvi, Partrs 1-2, 1941: pp, 77-87.
  15. ^ Downey, P. (1998). An inventory of host species for each aerial mistletoe species (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) in Australia. Cunninghamia Vol. 5(3): 685-720.
  16. ^ Yan, Z. (1990). Host Specificity of Lysiana exocarpi subsp. exocarpi and Other Mistletoes in Southern South Australia. Australian Journal of Botany, 1990. 38:475-86.
  17. ^ Watson, D.(2001). Mistletoe - A Keystone Resource in Forests and Woodlands Worldwide. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 32:219–49
  18. ^ Watson, D. (2011). Mistletoes of Southern Australia, CSIRO Publishing
  19. ^ Cribb, A.B. & J.W. (1976). Wild Food in Australia. Fontana Books. p. 43
  20. ^ Hiddins, L. (1999). Explore Wild Australia with the Bush Tucker Man. ABC Books. p.151
  21. ^ Isaacs, J.(1987). Bushfood: Aboriginal food and herbal medicine. Lansdowne Publishing, Sydney. p.225
  22. ^ Latz, P. (1995). Bushfire and Bush Tucker.IAD Press, Alice Springs. p.127
  23. ^ Bush Tucker and Medicine. http://bush-tucker.tripod.com/html/parka-parka.html
  24. ^ Charles Sturt Museum Disappearance of Henry Bryan Trail booklet: http://www.murrayriver.com.au/pdf/Mt_Bryan_Booklet_PrintFile.pdf
  25. ^ JSTOR Global Plants(2010) http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/bm001015703?history=true
  26. ^ Linnaea (1847),20, p. 647
  27. ^ Kraehenbuehl, D.(1981). Dr H.H. Behr's two visits to South Australia in 1844-45 and 1848-49. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, 3(1): page 107.
  28. ^ Bulletin Société botanique de France 41: 1894. p.599.
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