About Arceuthobium divaricatum Engelm.
Arceuthobium divaricatum Engelm. is a small parasitic shrub. Only a network of scaly brown or greenish stems, no more than 12 centimeters long, extends above the bark of its host tree. Most of the mistletoe grows inside the host tree, attached via haustoria that draw water and nutrients from the tree. Its leaves are reduced to thin scales on the surface of its stems. This species is dioecious: male plants produce spikes of staminate flowers, while female plants produce spikes of pistillate flowers. The fruit is a sticky berry a few millimeters long. It explodes to disperse its seeds several meters away from the parent plant and its host tree. This mistletoe is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California, Mexico. It grows as a parasite on various pine species in woodlands, most commonly Colorado pinyon and single-leaf pinyon.
