Cassytha filiformis

Cassytha filiformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Cassytha
Species: C. filiformis
Binomial name
Cassytha filiformis
L.[1]
SynonymsThe Plant List
  • Calodium cochinchinense Lour.
  • Calodium cochinchinensis Lour.
  • Cassytha americana Nees
  • Cassytha americana var. brachystachya Meisn.
  • Cassytha americana var. brasiliensis (Mart. ex Nees) Meisn.
  • Cassytha americana var. puberula Meisn.
  • Cassytha aphylla Raeusch.
  • Cassytha archboldiana C.K.Allen
  • Cassytha brasiliensis Mart. ex Nees
  • Cassytha corniculata Burm.f.
  • Cassytha cuscutiformis F. Muell.
  • Cassytha dissitiflora Meisn.
  • Cassytha filiformis var. pseudopubescens Domin
  • Cassytha filiformis f. pycnantha Domin
  • Cassytha guineensis Schumach. & Thonn.
  • Cassytha lifuensis Guillaumin
  • Cassytha macrocarpa Guillaumin
  • Cassytha novoguineensis Kaneh. & Hatus.
  • Cassytha paradoxae Proctor
  • Cassytha senegalensis A.Chev.
  • Cassytha timoriensis Gand.
  • Cassytha zeylanica Gaertn.
  • Rumputris fasciculata Raf.
  • Spironema aphylla Raf.
  • Volutella aphylla Forssk.

Cassytha filiformis, common name love-vine, is a species of obligate parasitic vine in the family Lauraceae. The species has a pantropical distribution encompassing the Americas, Indomalaya, Australasia, Polynesia and East Africa [2][3] In the Caribbean region, it is one of several plants known as Love Vine because it has a reputation as an aphrodisiac.[4]

Cassytha filiformis is a twining vine with an orange to pale green stem. Leaves are reduced to scales about 1 mm long. Flowers are borne in spikes or sometimes solitary. There are 6 tepals, each 0.1-2.0 mm long. Fruit is a drupe about 7 mm in diameter.[2]

Cassytha filiformis, Hawaii
Clump of Cassytha filiformis, Bahamas, which the locals call "Bahamian Love Vine"
Cassytha filiformis flowers

References

  1. ↑ "Taxon: Cassytha filiformis L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1994-10-04. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  2. 1 2 Flora of North America vol 3
  3. ↑ D. S. Correll & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. University of Texas at Dallas.
  4. ↑ Esbaugh, W. Hardy; McClure, Susan A. & Bolyard, Judith L. Bush Medicine Studies, Andros Island, Bahamas. Proceedings of the first symposium on the botany of the Bahamas June 11–14, 1985. Ed. Robert R. Smith., San Salvador, Bahamas.

External links

Media related to Cassytha filiformis at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Cassytha filiformis at Wikispecies

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