Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cassytha pubescens
Common name
Downy dodder-laurel, Devil's twine
Family
Lauraceae
Where found
Variety of vegetation communities. Widespread.
Notes
Parasitic twiner with stems 0.3–3 mm thick. Fruit fleshy. Stems cylindrical, smooth to finely wrinkled, hairy with white or red to brownish hairs, becoming hairless, yellow-green or grey-green to reddish and sometimes warty when older. Leaves scale-like, to 0.4 cm long, to 2 mm wide, bases stem clasping. Flowers 1–3 mm long, 1–3 mm in diameter, white to cream, hairy with grey, black, yellow or red hairs, with 3 petals. Flowers stalkless, or almost so. Flowers in 2–20-flowered congested or loose spikes or heads, the clusters single or often paired. Flowering: summer. Fruit white or green-grey to green-red, often banded dull green and dull red brown, white-hairy, sometimes sparsely so, globular to oval, 6–10 mm long, 5.5–10 mm in diameter, enveloped in the enlarged floral tube.
PlatNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cassytha~pubescens
(accessed 7 January, 2021)
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