E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of BC

Arceuthobium douglasii Engelm.
Douglas' dwarf mistletoe (Douglas fir dwarf mistletoe)
Santalaceae (Christmas Mistletoe family)
(Previously in Viscaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

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General:
Perennial parasitic shrub; stems bluish or bluish-green, smooth, 0.5-3 cm long; segments about 1 mm thick or less; accessory branches, if any, usually in 1 plane, the branches at each node fanlike.

Flowers:
Male flowers about 2 mm wide, greenish to yellow, terminal on short, stalk-like joints, usually 2 per node, the buds egg-shaped, the perianth lobes rounded on the backs; female flowers 2 per node, short-stalked.

Fruits:
Berries, egg-shaped, about 3 mm long, greenish to bluish, usually 1-seeded, mucilaginous, maturing the 2nd summer.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S4S5	Yellow	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.

1. Flowers unstalked or the female ones with stalks up to 1 mm long, usually in pairs at each node; stems over over 2 mm thick and at least 3 cm long; plants parasitic on many genera of Pinaceae.................Arceuthobium campylopodium

1. Flowers terminal on short lateral branches, the branches bearing the male flowers often more than 2 per node; stems scarcely as much as 2 mm thick and usually less than 3 cm long; plants parasitic on Pinus or Pseudotsuga.

2. Secondary branches of twigs lying in the same plane, thus flat and fanlike; stems scarcely 1 mm thick; plants parasitic on Pseudotsuga......................Arceuthobium douglasii

2. Secondary branches of twigs distinctly whorled, not fanlike; stems over 1 mm thick; plants parasitic on Pinus...............................Arceuthobium americanum

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