Cassytha filiformis

Cassytha filiformis
C. filiformis at Kanaio
Beach, Maui, Hawaii

Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Cassytha
Species:
C. filiformis
Binomial name
Cassytha filiformis
Synonyms[3]
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.
    • Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.
    • 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 or love-vine is an orangish, wiry, parasitic vine in the family Lauraceae.[3] It is found in coastal forests of warm tropical regions worldwide including the Americas, Indomalaya, Australasia, Polynesia and tropical Africa.[4][5][6]

It is an obligate parasite, meaning it cannot complete its life-cycle without another host plant. Research in Florida (in southeast United States) has found that love-vine inhibits gall wasps by attacking the galls (small growths on plants) that the wasps create for their young.

  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Cassytha filiformis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  3. ^ a b "Cassytha filiformis L." World Flora Online. World Flora Consortium. 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  4. ^ Nelson, Scot C. (July 2008). "Cassytha filiformis" (PDF). Plant Disease. 42. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa: 1–10.
  5. ^ "Cassytha filiformis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 35. 1753". Flora of North America. eFlora. n.d.
  6. ^ Correll, Donovan Stewart; Johnston, Marshall Conring (1970). Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. University of Texas at Dallas.