Phoradendron californicum (Desert Mistletoe)

4/3/11 Meccacopia Trail, Box Canyon Road, Mecca Hills, Riverside County, CA

3/11/00 Cottonwood Wash to Moorten's Mill, Joshua Tree National Park,

Riverside County, CA

 4/4/04 Pipes Canyon Road (loop from Hwy. 247), Yucca Valley, Riverside County, CA

4/4/04 Pipes Canyon Road

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Desert Mistletoe

SPECIES: Phoradendron californicum

FAMILY: Viscaceae (Mistletoe Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/11/2000

LOCATION: Cottonwood Wash to Moorten's Mill, Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, CA 

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Stem 4–10 dm, generally pendent in age, reddish to green, canescent, especially at tip, ± glabrous in age; internodes 13–28 mm

Leaf scale-like

Staminate inflorescence: fertile internodes 2–3(6), 4–10-flowered

Pistillate inflorescence: fertile internodes 2–3(7), 2–3-flowered

Fruit ± 3 mm, white to reddish pink, ± glabrous

Ecology: Deserts, on  Acacia, Cercidium, Larrea (rarely),  Olneya, Prosopis 

Elevation: < 1200 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Desert 

Distribution outside California: Nevada, Arizona, Baja California

Flowering time: Jan–Mar