Christmas

This is a plant that always makes me think of Christmas. It is a Western Australian Christmas Tree. My mum would always point them out to me when I was little and tell me their name. I began to associate the bush exploding in these visually stunning trees, with a big fat man sneaking down chimneys and leaving a hoard of gifts in exchange for bickies, carrots and a year's worth of good behavior (even though my house never had a chimney, and I'm sure I wasn't the best behaved kid this side of the black stump).

These trees are quite special. They are a member of a mistletoe family, Loranthaceae, and are hemiparacidic. In layman's terms that means that they are capable of photosynthesis and tend to steal nutrients and water from a host plant. They do this through specially adapted roots, that seek out other plant roots in which to pilfer from. I guess that is why they have such a long flowering period. It starts around the beginning of November, and can carry on until the beginning of January. Due to them being parasites, it is extremely difficult to have them in cultivation. So far I have never seen a nursery stock or sell them. 

They are absolutely stunning trees when in bloom, and are synonymous with the bush land around Perth and the south west.