Hemi-parasitic tree and shrub root parasites or aerial stem parasites. Leaves mostly evergreen and opposite. Flower clusters terminal or lateral, often made up of flowers in 3s. Flowers mostly regular, bisexual, 4-6-parted. Corolla with petals free or fused, often with a small fringe at the base. Stamens the same number as, and opposite to, the petals to which they are attached. Ovary inferior,1-many-chambered. Fruit generally fleshy and berry-like.
A family of parasitic plants attaching to hosts by suckers; they have little horticultural potential.
About 65 genera and 900 species, cosmopolitan. Australia has 10 genera and 65 species from all states.
Viscum album is the popular Christmas Mistletoe of northern climes.
Source: (2002). Loranthaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.