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Lauraceae - Cassytha
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Distribution Map
Cassytha (called love-vine in the Bahamas) bears an uncanny resemblance to dodder (the genus Cuscuta) but is not related to it at all! Cassytha is in Lauraceae, the same family as Sassafras,
avocado, and cinnamon whereas dodder is in Convolvulaceae and is
related to morning-glory vines. If one looks closely at the flowers,
love-vine is quite clearly a member of Lauraceae.
Photographs
- Cassytha capillaris
- Photo Peninsular
Botanical Garden Thung Kai, Prov. Trang, Peninsular Thailand, 50 m alt.
Photograph October 2005 by A. S. Fleischmann.
- Photo showing
close-up of fruits with the conspicious fleshy rims. Location same as
above. Photograph October 2005 by A. S. Fleischmann.
- Cassytha filiformis
- Photo The
"love-vine" of Andros Island, Bahamas. The plant is used, along with
others, in love potions. My experience with tea made from the plant
indicates it has lots of caffeine, and tastes a bit like root beer to
boot!
- Photo Habit, clambering over the beach strand vegetation, Andros Island, Bahamas.
- Photo 1 and photo 2. Flowering shoots. Cuba. From the Neotropical Live Plant Photos web site. Photo IDs 27043, 27266. Photo by Robin Foster
- Photo A dense population of the parasite in Florida, USA. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
- Photo Hyperparasite on Exocarpos (Santalaceae). Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. August 18, 1981. Photo by Job Kuijt.
- Photo Inflorescence. Plant parasitic on a coastal Scaevola. Lissenung Island near Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Gerhard Glatzel.
- Photo Closer view of the flowers. Lissenung Island near Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Gerhard Glatzel.
- Photo Fruits. Lissenung Island near Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Gerhard Glatzel.
- Photo Fruit on plant. Photo by D. L. Nickrent, Andros Island, Bahamas.
- Photo Fruits. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
- Photo Seedlings. Photo by L. J. Musselman
- Cassytha pubescens
- Photo Habit of the plant twining on a woody host. Photo by Greg Jordan. See Key to Tasmanian Dicots.
- Photo Extreme close-up of the flower showing the valvate anthers, typical of the family Lauraceae. Photo by Greg Jordan.
- Cassytha sp.
- Photo on tree in Zimbabwe. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
Phylogeny
Cassytha,
the sole parasitic member of the large family Lauraceae, is uniquivocally
assigned to this family based on morphological and molecular data.
Its superficial resemblance to Cuscuta is remarkable and
an excellent example of convergent evolution.
SIUC / College of Science / Parasitic Plant Connection / Lauraceae
URL: http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/Lauraceae/index.html
Last updated: 06-Jan-06 / dln
