Cassytha (called love-vine in the Bahamas) bears an uncanny
resemblance to dodder (the genus Cuscuta) but is not related to it
at all! Cassytha is in Lauraceae, the same family as Sassafras,
avocado, and cinnamon whereas dodder is in Convolvulaceae and is related
to morning-glory vines. If one looks closely at the flowers, love-vine is
quite clearly a member of Lauraceae.
Photographs
Cassytha capillaris
Photo Peninsular
Botanical Garden Thung Kai, Prov. Trang, Peninsular Thailand, 50 m alt.
Photograph October 2005 by A. S. Fleischmann.
Photo showing close-up
of fruits with the conspicious fleshy rims. Location same as above.
Photograph October 2005 by A. S. Fleischmann.
Photo.
Habit of plant. Gibbie Creek, 50 km SW of Victoria River Downs in
Gregory National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. Photo by Tony from
Sydney. Link goes to Flickr.
Cassytha ciliolata
Photo.
Habit of plant parasitic on Cliffortia
cuneata (Rosaceae). Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, South Africa.
Photo by Ernesto Sandoval. Link goes to Flickr.
Cassytha filiformis
Photo The "love-vine"
of Andros Island, Bahamas. The plant is used, along with others, in love
potions. My experience with tea made from the plant indicates it has
lots of caffeine, and tastes a bit like root beer to boot!
Photo Habit,
clambering over the beach strand vegetation, Andros Island, Bahamas.
Photo Extreme
close-up of the flower showing the valvate anthers, typical of the
family Lauraceae. Photo by Greg Jordan.
Photo.
Habit of plant. Curra Moors Track, Royal National Park, south of Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia. Photo by Tony from Sydney. Link
goes to Flickr.
Photo.
This plant has been referred to as C. paniculata or C.
paniculata var. phaeolasia. In his monograph of the
genus, Weber (1981) made these synonyms of C. pubescens. But
in the 2007 (vol. 2) issue of Flora of Australia, the name C.
pubescens was retained. So maybe this is a different species?
Middle Head, at entrance to Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
Photo by Tony from Sydney. Link goes to Flickr.
Photo.
Showing pubescent fruits. Australia. Photo by Andrew Paget. Link
goes to Flickr.
Photo.
This species hyperparasitic on Omphacomeria acerba. Photo by
Meredith Cosgrove. Link goes to PhytoImages.
Cassytha sp.
Photo on tree
in Zimbabwe. Photo by L. J. Musselman.
Photo.
Stem of an unidentified species of Cassytha forming haustoria
on Xanthorrhoea. Note the way the endophyte spreads within the
host tissue! Berowra to Cowan section, near Sydney, New South Wales,
Australia. Photo by David Midgley. Link goes to
Flickr.
Phylogeny
Although sometimes classified within its own family (Cassythaceae), this
parasitic vine is universally recognized as monophyletic and residing within
Lauraceae. This position within is supported by floral morphology and
molecular data. Its superficial resemblance to Cuscuta is remarkable
and an excellent example of convergent evolution. The molecular phylogenetic
study by Rohwer and Rudolph (2005) showed Cassytha
to be nested among woody Lauraceae as the sister group to a clade including
all genera except Hypodaphnis and
the Cryptocarya group. Li et al.
(2016, Taxon 65:433-443) using RPB2, LEAFY and ITS showed C. filiformis
to be sister to Neocinnamomum, Cinnamomum, Machilus,
Phoebe, etc. To there appears to be no molecular phylogenetic study
of Cassytha species.
