About Misodendrum punctulatum Sol. ex G.Forst.
Misodendrum punctulatum Sol. ex G.Forst. grows as a small, highly branched bush reaching around 25 cm (10 inches) in height. It has a sympodial growth pattern, meaning the apical meristem stops growing, and new growth continues from lateral meristems. Its leaves are scale-like, with reduced photosynthetic activity. Small flowers grow in spring, in the leaf axils of growth from the second year. After flowering, the plant produces small achenes that have hairy bristles. These achenes are dispersed by wind, and their bristles become caught on tree branches. Mistletoes in the genus Misodendrum are the only hemiparasites that are wind-dispersed. Misodendrum punctulatum is native to the southern half of Chile and the foothills of the Patagonian Andes in southern Argentina, growing at altitudes up to approximately 2,000 m (6,562 ft). At medium altitudes, it grows below the treeline, and at low altitudes it occurs in valleys. It favors south-facing slopes in both light shade and deep shade. It needs humid conditions with abundant rainfall, and can only tolerate dry periods that last no more than one month. Misodendrum punctulatum is a hemiparasite: it is partially photosynthetic, but also gets part of its required nutrients from a host plant. It infects southern beech trees, including the deciduous species Nothofagus pumilio and Nothofagus antarctica, and the evergreen species Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus betuloides. It spreads to new host trees via its wind-carried seeds; the bristles on the seeds stick to small branches of suitable host trees. These host branches are usually less than four years old, which suggests germinating seedlings cannot penetrate thicker bark. After a seed attaches to a host, there is an incubation period of several years, during which the new mistletoe plant gets all its nourishment from the host. Aerial shoots only develop after this incubation period ends.
