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Plicosepalus sagittifolius is a small, woody hemiparasitic shrub that grows on the branches of Acacia trees, drawing water and nutrients from its host. It is rarely cultivated and is not a typical houseplant, so care advice is largely untested.
Plicosepalus sagittifolius is a woody, photosynthesising, parasitic plant species that grows on the branches of mostly Acacia-species, by means of tapping roots. It has glaucus, leathery, entire, 1–6 cm long leaves set oppositely along the stem, with umbels of initially long up-curved pale greenish-yellow buds, that open explosively, the petals usually bright yellow, strongly curling, long stamens and style clear red, orange or pink, and quickly falling after fertilisation. The initially green oval berries color red when ripe. The species is assigned to the showy mistletoe family. In the Afar language it is called hatote, while the vernacular name in the Oromo language is dertu dedacha.
Plicosepalus sagittifolius occurs in a wide zone in the east of tropical Africa, from South Africa (eastern Transvaal), Zambia, Malawi, coastal regions from southern Somalia via Kenya and Tanzania to northern Mozambique, and inland to the Rift Valley region from southern Ethiopia via Kenya and Uganda to southern Tanzania.
In Tanzania, Plicosepalus sagittifolius has been used in traditional medicine to treat cancer. The plant is used to soften leather, while branches are utilised as firewood.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plicosepalus sagittifolius 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.
