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Project Noah Nature School
Cassytha glabella
A thin smooth green vine clambering on other plants. At nodes there were clusters of three spindle-shaped (fusiform) reddish-orange fruit, each about 3 mm long. These fruits must have followed clusters of small white flowers.
Spotted in a damp sclerophyll forest.
Widespread in Australia in tea-tree heath, wattle scrub and damp sclerophyll forests except in the Northern Territory.
Described as a light parasite, the plant is rootless except when it germinates. It loses its roots once a host is found. Once fully grown, they become a tangled mass and can even kill their host.
Indigenous people infused the fruit to treat fever.
Family: Lauraceae
Spotted on Aug 4, 2015
Submitted on Aug 4, 2015
1 Comment
That's an interesting species. Plenty of tea-tree heath around Girraween NP. I'll keep an eye open for it when I'm down there next.