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.

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