General: Mesquite Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) is a parasitic plant that lives on catclaw acacia, honey mesquite, and screwbean mesquite (Acacia, Cercidium, Olneya, and Prosopis). The plant appears as dark clumps among the lighter-green branches. The stems are reddish brown, cylindrical, and jointed, and the berries are red (white before ripe) with a dark spot at the tip.

Mesquite Mistletoe is a fairly common component of vegetation communities with catclaw and mesquite, places such as rocky washes and rocky hillsides in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Mistletoe (Santalaceae; formerly Viscaceae)

Other Names:

Plant Form: parasitic plant

Height:

Bark: smooth

Stems: green, then reddish brown

Leaves: none (scale like)

Flowers:

Seeds: held within red berries

Habitat: places with catclaw and mesquite

Elevation: to about 4,000 ft

Distribution: California to Arizona, Baja California

Comments: Phainopepla depend on mesquite mistletoe berries for food, but humans can't eat them. Rarely found as a parasite on creosote bush.