Mistletoe hunting

Sincere apologies for missing a blog last week! I was gallivanting in the South Island and missed my opportunity for computer and internet access. I hope the post for this week makes up for it :)

Myself and fellow epiphyter Olivia went mistletoe hunting during an epic journey from Otago to Waikato. Here are the results of our forays:

Lake Ohau

We arrived on the shores of Lake Ohau on a very crisp April afternoon with the goal of finding some beech mistletoes. This group of specialist stem parasites includes Peraxilla colensoi, Peraxilla tetrapetala and Alepis flavida, all of which have a strong preference for our five species of beech (Fuscospora and Lophozonia species).

Being North-Islanders (the majority of beech forest is in the South Island), neither of us were overly familiar with these mistletoes but were very excited to quickly discover an abundant population in open forest along the Lake Ohau shoreline. The problem was that we were under the impression that there were two or three species at this site so we spent hours trying to differentiate individual plants. It wasn't until Olivia found a distinctly different plant that we realised that all the plants we had been studying were actually all the same species: pikirangi (Peraxilla tetrapetala)! 

The second species we found was Alepis flavida which can be differentiated from Peraxilla tetrapetala by occasional pointed tips on the leaves and a lack of leaf galls. Both of these species are threatened and have declining populations.

Peraxilla tetrapetala on a beech tree. Photo: C. Kirby.

Leaf galls of Peraxilla tetrapetala. Photo: C. Kirby.

Longer leaves of Alepis flavida don't have galls. Photo: C. Kirby.

Ship Creek

Further west at the wonderful Ship Creek coastal forest remnant we stumbled across a few Ileostylus micranthus in fruit. They were growing on Coprosma shrubs and looked to be thriving in the west coast rain despite some insect browsing.

Torrent Bay

More amazing scenery and interesting mistletoes were discovered in Abel Tasman National Park while we were walking out of Torrent Bay. This Ileostylus was fruiting heavily.

Western Taupo

To top off our mistletoe hunting expedition we stopped on the western side of Lake Taupo where we had been told Tupeia antarctica could be found. We were not disappointed with a healthy population of plants on Pittosporum species. 

It was interesting to find a few dead individuals. They seemed to have got too heavy for the spindly branches they perched on and when their weight broke the branch they had lost their food supply. This species is threatened and has a declining population.

Tupeia antarctica on a Pittosporum host tree. Photo: C. Kirby.

Lots of Tupeia antarctica fruit ready to feed the local tui and bellbird populations! Photo: C. Kirby.

A dead Tupeia antarctica - the branch appeared to have broken under the weight of this large mistletoe. Photo: C. Kirby.

The locations of successful mistletoe hunting endeavours.

Mistletoe hunters in the mistletoe-free landscape of Aoraki/Mt Cook.