Loranthaceae
PRISCILLA ABDULLA
Stewart Herbarium, Gordon College, Rawalpindi.
Perennial, evergreen, semi-parasitic shrubs, rarely herbs. Leaves ex-stipulate, opposite or whorled, rarely alternate, simple, entire, sometimes scale-like or absent. Flowers in racemes or fascicles, rarely solitary, bracteate, actinomorphic. Perianth 4-8, free or connate, either sepaloid or petaloid; calyculus sometimes present below the perianth. Stamens as many as the perianth lobes, mostly epiphyllous, anthers opening by pores or slits. Ovary unilocular, inferior. Fruit a berry or a drupe, succulent, viscid. Seed solitary, without testa.
A tropical and temperate family of semi-parasitic plants, with 36 genera and c. 1300 species. Represented in W. Pakistan by 4 genera and 9 species.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P.L. 480. Thanks are also due to Miss J. Lamond and Messrs B. L. Burtt and I.C. Hedge of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, for their helpful suggestions.
