Cassytha
| Cassytha | |
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| Cassytha filiformis | |
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| Genus: | Cassytha |
| species | |
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See text. | |
Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one (C. filiformis) in Hawaii, northern South America, Central America, southern Florida and Japan.
The plants bear a striking, though superficial, resemblance to Cuscuta (dodder), an unrelated genus in the family Convolvulaceae, making an excellent example of convergent evolution.
- Selected species
- Cassytha aurea - Australia
- Cassytha candida - Australia
- Cassytha capillaris - Australia
- Cassytha ciliolata - South Africa
- Cassytha flava - Australia
- Cassytha glabella - Australia and Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha filiformis - Hawaii, South and Central America, Florida, Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha melantha - Australia
- Cassytha micrantha - Australia
- Cassytha nodiflora - Australia
- Cassytha pomiformis - Australia
- Cassytha pubescens - Australia and Japan (Okinawa)
- Cassytha racemosa - eastern Australia
Note that the homonym Cassytha Mill. (1768) is a synonym of the cactus genus Rhipsalis. The classification of some Rhipsalis species to Cassytha was an error based on the not dissimilar habitus.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cassytha.
- Weber, J. Z.:A taxonomic revision of Cassytha (Lauraceae) in Australia.Journal of Adelaide Botanic Gardens 3:187-262, 1981