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Phoradendron californicum
Also called Acacia Mistletoe, Desert Mistletoe, California Mesquite Mistletoe
Phoradendron californicum is a leafless, hemiparasitic mistletoe that grows on woody desert trees such as mesquite and palo verde, drawing water and minerals from its host while photosynthesizing itself. It is a wild desert plant rather than a typical garden subject, so it is not grown as a regular ornamental.
Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe or mesquite mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California. It can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts at altitudes of up to 1,400 m (4,593 ft).
The mistletoe is a leafless plant that attaches to host plants, often leguminous woody desert trees such as Cercidium and Prosopis. Desert mistletoe takes water and minerals from its host plants but it does its own photosynthesis, making it a hemiparasite. Desert mistletoes, like mistletoes in general, weave nutrient cycles together through their unique life history.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phoradendron californicum 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.
