Phoradendron Californicum is also known as Desert Mistletoe, and can easily be overlooked by the casual plant viewer. Even those with persistantly observative dispositions may only notice a nest like configuration among some of the more established desert shrubs. More detailed attenuation will discearn host plants affixed with pronounced clusters of green or brown twig like shoots, some hanging down in swaying strands.
The leafless Desert Mistletoe seems to prefer leguminous shrubs or trees. It is observably abundant in the Pioneertown area attached to Senegalia Greggii and Larrea Tridentata, also Parkinsonia and Prosopis Species. Being a parasitic plant means it acquires some or all of its sustinance from a host organism through specialized penetrating roots. Proradendron Californicum is specifically classified Hemiparisitic, leecheing fluids and minerals but providing its own photosynthesis.
An even more in depth perspective will show applicable specimens with tiny berries in brilliant gradients of orange yellow and brown. They are eaten and dispursed by a native bird species, Phainopepla Nitens, and occasionally leave a sticky red remnant on berry bearing branches.
In the sun among the trees,
Silent flowing in the breeze,
Lives a lore that no one sees,
Bringing giants to their knees.
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