Plicosepalus curviflorus (Benth. ex Oliv.) Tiegh.
Eng.: Fiery mistletoe. Ara.: Seher, anab el-talh, goola.
Semiparasitic woody plant with long and intricate branches 1-2 (3) m long, unarmed. It parasites branches of trees and shrubs by special organs (haustoria), from which it gets water and minerals but performs photosynthesis with its own leaves. Branches extended along the ground or among nearby plants. Sometimes it forms large subspherical tangles on the branches of trees that it parasites, 1-2 m or even larger. Twigs glabrous. Leaves 0.3-0.6(1) × 1.5-3.5 cm, glabrous, linear-oblong, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, green or glaucous with 3-7 longitudinal nerves, entire, with short petiole; opposite, subalternate or alternate. Inflorescences with 1-4 pedunculate umbels and each with 3-6 pentamerous flowers, zygomorphic, pedicellate; corolla linear and long, 3-5 cm long, curved, with free petals, orange-yellowish at the base and red on top part. Stamens 5, subequal, curved like the petals. The fruit is a more or less ellipsoid berry of 1-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 cm, first greenish, then red, which the birds eat, digest the fleshy part and then deposit the seed on the branches of the host trees, where they begin their germination and rooting.
Flowering:
No data for this region
Fruiting:
No data for this region
Habitat:
Branches of trees and shrubs in dry areas, semidesert and even desert zones. In North Africa mainly along wadis and depressions in the terrain where there is greater edaphic moisture.
Distribution:
Tropical and subtropical Africa. In North Africa it is not very common, it is known only in the eastern parts of Egypt and Sudan.
Conservation status:
A rare species in N Africa of which little is known about its conservation status. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.
