Orange-flowered Mistletoe
Phragmanthera cornetii (?)
Parasitic on a mature Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) near Tambach on the Elgeyo Escarpment, Kenya, Africa. December 2012.
These plants are attached directly to the branches of their host tree and a root system known as a haustorium penetrates into the xylem. Water and nutrients are drawn from the host, but this hemiparasite also has green, photosynthetic leaves to produce it's own carbohydrates. The leaves of this one are broadly elliptic, with an entire margin, and rather thick. Pendulous stems reach a meter or two towards the ground and the clusters of flowers are close to the stems and proximal to the leafy growing tip. The orange-red flowers are highly attractive to sunbirds and other birds that can take the nectar.
Loranthaceae -- a Mistletoe Family
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