Lysiana casuarinae (Miq.) Tiegh.
Lysiana casuarinae is a broadly circumscribed, aerial, parasitic plant or mistletoe that can be found growing on a range of host species. This image represents the type (true) form, which in the Perth region occurs predominantly on Casuarina, hence the specific epithet. It has green, terete leaves with banana-shaped, yellow flowers fading to red-orange with age. Plants are commonly seen along the Canning and Swan River foreshore flowering from late January to February.
Plants can often be seen with another mistletoe Amyema linophylla, which has red flowers and grey terete foliage, with flowers from December to January. On occasion, both species can be seen on the same tree, Casuarina obesa.
Photo: R. Davis