About Amyema congener (Schult. & Schult.fil.) Tiegh.
Amyema congener, commonly called the variable mistletoe, is a species of flowering epiphytic hemiparasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, native to eastern Australia. It grows on host plants from the genera Allocasuarina, Acacia, and also on some exotic species. Franz Sieber first formally described this species as Loranthus congener in 1829, and Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem reclassified it to its current accepted binomial name Amyema congener in 1894. It grows as a woody shrub with either an erect or pendant (drooping) growth habit, anchored to a host tree branch or trunk by a round woody base. Its stems and foliage are smooth. The thick, leathery leaves range in shape from spear-shaped (lanceolate) to oval or obovate, measuring 4 to 11 centimetres (1.5 to 4.5 inches) long and 1 to 5.5 centimetres (0.39 to 2.17 inches) wide. Flowers of Amyema congener can be seen at any time of year. The round fruit, which is 0.8 centimetres (0.31 inches) in diameter, ripens over the Australian summer between December and February. Each fruit holds a single seed enclosed in a sticky membrane. The main host plants of the variable mistletoe include black sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis), forest oak (A. torulosa), gossamer wattle (Acacia floribunda), white feather honeymyrtle (Melaleuca decora), prickly-leaved tea tree (M. styphelioides), prickly-leaved paperbark (M. nodosa), snow-in-summer (M. linariifolia), green native cascarilla (Croton verreauxii), and red olive plum (Elaeodendron australe). It also grows on introduced trees such as peach, plum, and pear trees, and oleander (Nerium oleander). It only grows occasionally on gum trees including Eucalyptus obtusifolia and smooth-barked apple (Angophora costata). The mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) eats the fruit of this mistletoe. Several scale insect species can attack the plant: Ceroplastes cerciferus, C. rubens, and Aspidiotus aurantii. After the seed is deposited on a host, it immediately starts germinating. It quickly penetrates the host tree's vascular system and forms a physiological connection with the host's xylem, after which the seedling begins taking up water and mineral nutrients from the host.
