Cassytha filiformis

Cassytha filiformis or love-vine is an orangish, wiry, parasitic vine in the family Lauraceae. It is found in coastal forests of warm tropical regions worldwide including the Americas, Indomalaya, Australasia, Polynesia and tropical Africa.

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

Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Cassytha
Species:
C. filiformis
Binomial name
Cassytha filiformis
Synonyms
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.

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.

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