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Arceuthobium campylopodum
Western dwarf mistletoe is a small, leafless parasitic plant that grows on pine trees, drawing water and nutrients from its host through root-like structures. It cannot be grown as a garden plant on its own and is a forest pest in western North America.
Arceuthobium campylopodum, commonly known as western dwarf mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Santalaceae. It is native to the low to moderate elevation coniferous forests of western North America. Like other dwarf mistletoes, A. campylopodum parasitizes several species of conifers pine tree, including the Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, and Coulter pine.
The impact of A. campylopodum on the ecology and commercial productivity of conifer forests is significant. Infections by A. campylopodum decrease the vigor and longevity of host trees, induce deformed growths called witch's brooms, and increase host susceptibility to other pathogens. At the same time, A. campylopodum is an essential food source to wildlife, including some species of hairstreak butterflies whose larvae feed only on dwarf mistletoes.
A. campylopodum has a wide geographic distribution, largely coinciding with that of its principal host, Pinus ponderosa, through much of the western United States (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Nevada) and Baja California. Its elevational range is 30–2500 m. Many sources that describe a more expansive geographic range for A. campylopodum (for example, the Flora of North America) apply a broader taxonomic circumscription of the species, encompassing all or nearly all species in Section Campylopoda.
Some Plateau Indian tribes used western dwarf mistletoe as a wash to prevent dandruff.
Fir dwarf mistletoe · American dwarf mistletoe · Apache dwarf mistletoe · Azores Dwarf Mistletoe · Southwestern white pine dwarf mistletoe · Sugar pine dwarf mistletoe · Limber pine dwarf mistletoe · Pinyon dwarf mistletoe · Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe · Huachuca Mountain dwarf mistletoe · Larch dwarf mistletoe · Coastal dwarf mistletoe
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Arceuthobium campylopodum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
