Species profile—Lysiana filifolia
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Loranthaceae → Lysiana filifolia
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Loranthaceae
- Scientific name
- Lysiana filifolia Barlow
- WildNet taxon ID
- 9675
- Alternate name(s)
- thread-leaved mistletoe
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Least concern
- Conservation significant
- No
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- Lysiana filifolia is a pendulous, partially parasitic plant that grows mainly on Casuarina spp. but has also occasionally been found on some species of Acacia. The plant typically attaches to the thin stems of the upper branches of these trees. The leaves are opposite, terete, obtuse and are 10 to 20 cm long and 1mm in diameter, and are scarcely enlarged at the base. The inflorescence is a pedunculate 2-flowered umbel; the peduncle is 1 to 2 mm long; the pedicels are 6 to 8mm long and the bracts are 1.5 mm long which form a membraceous rounded cupule at the base of each flower. The calyx is 0.7 mm long and is weakly lobed. The corolla in mature bud is about 30 mm long and is orange or red. The anthers are not septate. The style is articulate and is about 0.5 mm above the base, leaving a conical nipple on the fruit. The cylindrical fruit is about 1.5 to 2 cm long and has an outer skin covering a seed that is imbedded in a sticky white pulp. (Pollock 1997).
Lysiana filifolia differs from the closely related L. linearifolia which has longer, more slender flowering stalks, narrower bracts, shorter flowers, slightly shorter leaves and occurs on different host plants (Pollock 1997). - Distribution
- Lysiana filifolia is known from Mt Lewis to Townsville and west to Mt Surprise , and further south from Shoalwater Bay to Blackdown Tableland (Queensland Herbarium 2012).
Lysiana filifolia is conserved within Blackdown Tableland NP and occurs in Dawson Range State Forest (Queensland Herbarium 2012). - Distributional limits
- -16.4694444, 144.5327895
-23.9485827, 150.6643867 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Lysiana filifolia is found mainly on in woodlands and open forest on species of Casuarina, including C. torulosa, C. cristata, C. cunninghamii and Allocasuarina luehmannii. It has also been found on Acacia bidwillii and A. leiocalyx (Queensland Herbarium 2012).
- Reproduction
- Lysiana filifolia flowers in March and April. Like other Lysiana spp., it is probably pollinated almost exclusively by honeyeaters, and its seed is dispersed by mistletoe birds (Pollock 1997).
- Status notes
- Lysiana filifolia is listed as Near Threatened under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Bostock and Holland, 2010)
- Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral districts: Leichhardt, North Kennedy, Port Curtis and Cook.
- References
- Barlow, B.A. (1983). Supplement to a revision of the Loranthaceae of Australia. Brunonia 5 (2): 206.
Barlow, B.A. in George, A.S. (Ed) (1984). Flora of Australia 22: 84, 86.
Pollock, A.B. (1997). Lysiana filifolia Species Management Profile. Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane.
Queensland Herbarium (2011). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 14/03/2012. - Profile author
- Ronald Booth (15/03/2012)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=9675.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
