Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cassytha glabella
Common name
Devil's twine, Tangled dodder-laurel, Slender dodder-laurel
Family
Lauraceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, and heath.
f. dispar Coastal south from Pambula
f. glabella Coast and ranges. Occasionally elsewhere.
Notes
Parasitic perennial twiner. Fruit fleshy. Stems hairless. Leaves reduced to minute scales, bases stem clasping. Flowers small, with 3 white petals, in single, rarely paired, clusters of 1-10 flowers. Flowers all year. Fruit globular to oval (f. glabella) or pear-shaped to spindle-shaped (f. dispar), green or yellow to reddish, enveloped in the enlarged floral tube.
f. dispar: fruit usually more than 5 mm long and less than 3 mm in diameter.
f. glabella: fruit usually less that 5 mm long and more than 3 mm wide.
PlantNET description of species and key to formas: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cassytha~glabella (accessed 7 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
