I saw these rows of trees from afar and some of them looked strange. As I walked nearer, the thick waxy leaves and orangey-red flowers looked familiar."Is it what I thought it is?", I asked myself. Once I stood in front of one of the trees, the answer was obvious. Almost the entire tree was covered with the parasitic plant Dendrophthoe pentandra (common name: Mistletoe) from the Loranthaceae Family. In fact, I cannot even remember what the host tree was right now.
I think I mentioned before that I always clear them from our trees until I learnt the importance of this plant. In terms of biodiversity, the plant provides a wide array of fauna with food. An example is butterflies such as the Painted Jezebel. So these days, I relish the sight of this parasitic plant and learnt to appreciate the beauty of its unusual flowers.
