Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cassytha phaeolasia
Common name
Rusty Dodder-laurel
Family
Lauraceae
Where found
Forest, shrubland, and fringing streams and lakes. Coast and ranges mainly south of Eden.
Notes
Parasitic twiner. Fruit fleshy. Stems smooth to finely wrinkled, hairy or almost hairless on the same plant, yellow-green to reddish. Leaves scale-like, bases stem clasping. Flowers 1–2 mm long, oval, with 3 petals, almost hairless, or hairy with white and red hairs, stalkless, in interrupted spikes of 5–15 loosely spaced flowers, the spikes single or often paired. Flowers Sept-April. Fruit globular to oval or pear-shaped, very hairy with mostly red or rusty hairs, sometimes hexagonal with reddish ribs, 5–10 mm in diameter. Fruit enveloped in the enlarged floral tube.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
Description mainly based on that in Flora of Australia online: https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Cassytha%20phaeolasia (accessed 7 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
