Flora and Fauna News

Sweet Mistletoe

By Michael Plagens
Sonoran Desert Sciences

PHOENIX, Az. ----- In the Sonoran Desert spring comes early and with warm pleasant temperatures hikers venture into the desert where the going is especially easy and interesting following a desert wash. A wash is a usually dry water course that offers smooth almost thorn-free travel. Vegetation is concentrated along the wash banks due to an increased water supply and of

Walking along such washes in early springtime (Yes folks, Sonoran Desert Spring is under way already.) one often encounters a powerfully sweet perfume. The source is the flowers of desert mistletoe, a parasitic plant that grows upon branches of palo verde, ironwood and acacia trees. The flowers are small, obscure, and greenish white and would otherwise go unnoticed. Honey bees find the flowers easily as will the hiker by following the sweet scent.

Mistletoe produces berries that are savored by birds, especially the Phainopepla (shown at right, a crested, glossy black bird with red eyes - female is dark gray) and the White-crowned Sparrow. These berries mature by autumn to coincide with the arrival of wintering birds. The birds are important vectors for distributing the mistletoe seeds to new hosts. A beautiful butterfly, the Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus), also requires mistletoe for its caterpillar stage. Thus this "parasite" should be recognized as an important cog in the living system that is the Sonoran Desert.

Plant: Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum)
Bird: Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens)
Watercolor © Michael J. Plagens.

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