Cassytha
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 Cassytha filiformis | ||||||||||||
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Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one (C. filiformis) in Hawaii, northern South America, Central America southernmost North America (southern Florida) and Japan.
The plants bear a striking, though superficial, resemblance to Cuscuta (dodder), an unrelated genus in the family Convolvulaceae, making an excellent example of convergent evolution.
- Selected species
- Cassytha aurea - Australia
- Cassytha candida - Australia
- Cassytha capillaris - Australia
- Cassytha ciliolata - South Africa
- Cassytha flava - Australia
- Cassytha glabella - Australia and Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha filiformis - Hawaii, South and Central America, Florida, Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha melantha - Australia
- Cassytha micrantha - Australia
- Cassytha nodiflora - Australia
- Cassytha pomiformis - Australia
- Cassytha pubescens - Australia and Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha racemosa - eastern Australia
Note that the homonym Cassytha Mill. (1768) is a synonym of the cactus genus Rhipsalis
See also
External links
- Parasitic plants: Cassytha (with distribution map)
- Western Australia Florabase: Cassytha
- Cassytha melantha
- Museum of South Africa: Cassytha ciliolata
- Flora of North America: Cassytha filiformis
References
- Weber, J. Z.:A taxonomic revision of Cassytha (Lauraceae) in Australia.Journal of Adelaide Botanic Gardens 3:187-262, 1981
