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Dendrophthoe falcata is a hemiparasitic mistletoe in the Loranthaceae family, the most common mistletoe in India, growing on the branches of many host trees. It is grown and used mainly as a traditional medicinal plant rather than as an ornamental.
Dendrophthoe falcata is one of the hemiparasitic plants that belong to the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. It is the most common of all the mistletoes that occur in India. At the moment reports say that it has around 401 plant hosts. The genus Dendrophthoe comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia (Flora of China, 2003) among which 7 species are found in India.
D.falcata bears grey bark, thick coriaceous leaves variable in shape with stout flowers (Wealth of India. 2002). The inflorescence of D.falcata was described formerly as axillary or as developing from the scars of fallen leaves, but Y.P.S Pundir (1996) determined it to be of strictly cauliflorous nature and noted also that it bears a certain similarity to those of the fig species Ficus glomerata, F. pomifera and F. hispida. Two of its varieties are widespread in India namely, var.
Dendrophthoe falcata is used as traditional medicine through South and Central Asia. It possesses remarkable potential as a medicinal plant, as is evident from the wound healing, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and antinociceptive properties of its ethanolic extracts (Pattanayak and Sunita, 2008, Shihab et al., 2006). Medicinal properties of this hemiparasite may vary in effects respective to different hosts it establishes a relation with (Mallavadhani et al., 2006).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dendrophthoe falcata 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.
