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Home  /  Plants  /  Budburst Species  /  Phoradendron leucarpum
Phenology Observations Sheet for Broadleaf Evergreens

COMMON NAME

Oak mistletoe

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Phoradendron leucarpum

ALSO KNOWN AS

American mistletoe

PLANT FAMILY

Sandalwood family (Santalaceae)

PLANT GROUP

Broadleaf Evergreens

Oak Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic evergreen shrub with short, interrupted, axillary clusters of tiny yellow flowers on smooth, green, jointed stems. Mistletoe is the sole larval host plant for the Great Purple Hairstreak Butterfly and produces white berries with sticky pulp, which are eaten by birds.
27 reports
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OBSERVERS
27+
OBSERVATIONS
!

Identification hints

Oak Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic evergreen shrub with short, interrupted, axillary clusters of tiny yellow flowers on smooth, green, jointed stems. Mistletoe is the sole larval host plant for the Great Purple Hairstreak Butterfly and produces white berries with sticky pulp, which are eaten by birds.
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Did you know?

Oak mistletoe creates "witches brooms" which create thick branches and clusters that are key habitats for many bird and mammal species since these structures resemble those found on old growth trees. The mistletoe alters the hormones of the tree to create these structures, kind of like insect galls.
DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S.
Alabama , Arkansas , Delaware , Florida , Georgia , Illinois , Indiana , Kansas , Kentucky , Louisiana , Maryland , Missouri , Mississippi , North Carolina , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , Ohio , Oklahoma , Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas , Virginia , West Virginia
HABITAT
There is no information available for this species

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