Decaisnina brittenii (Blakely) Barlow subsp. brittenii

Loranthaceae

Barlow, B.A. (1966) Australian Journal Botany 14: 433.

Aerial stem-parasitic shrub. Epicortical runners present.

Leaf blades thick and fleshy, brittle, breaking along a straight line when bent back on themselves. Leaf blades about 7-17 x 0.3-2.0 cm, petioles about 0.5-1 cm long. Venation not obvious on either the upper or lower surfaces.

Flowers borne in triads, all flowers sessile. Triad peduncles about 2-4 mm long. Inflorescence axis about 3-5 mm long bearing 3-9 pairs of secund triads. Calyx about 0.7-1 mm long, without lobes or weakly lobed or toothed. Corolla about 18-25 mm long, mainly red except for a green section towards the apex, tips purplish or reddish brown. Petals united at the base for about 0.5-3 mm, upper part of the perianth about 10 mm long and sharply reflexed. Anthers about 2-3 mm long, staminal filaments about 2.5-5 mm long. Ovary about 3.5 mm long. Style pink towards the base, green in the upper half, about 20 mm long. Stigma small, green and terminal.

Fruits about 11-13 x 8 mm. Seeds green, about 10 x 5-6 mm. Seeds immersed in a translucent gel. Embryo about 8-9 mm long in green endosperm. Radicle blunt, thick and swollen. Cotyledons about 4 mm long, gradually tapering to the apex. Cotyledons no wider than the hypocotyl.

Features not available.

Occurs in NT, CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 650 m. Parasitic on a range of open forest, monsoon forest and rain forest plants.

Amylotheca brittenii (Blakely) Danser, Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg 10: 300(1929). Loranthus brittenii Blakely, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 47: 393(1922), Type: Queensland, Endeavour River, 1770, J. Banks & D. Solander; Iso: NSW. Loranthus signatus var. angustatus Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 89: 54(1921), Type: Queensland, Boonmoo, Feb. 1910, K. Domin s. n.: Holo: PR.