Viscum obscurum

This leafy parasite seen in the Addo Elephant National Park is thought to be Viscum obscurum, yet another mistletoe or voëlent. Much branching results in a dense tangle of opposite leaves and green stems that become woody.

The rounded clump occurs in various host trees from the Western Cape around Swellendam eastwards along the coast through the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and inland in the lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as across the border in southern Africa.

The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).