Green fruit. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Vine. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Suckers on a twining stem.  Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, between Rankin Springs & West Wyalong, NSW

Common Name

Mallee Strangle-vine; Strangle Vine; Devil's Twine; Large Dodder-laurel; Coarse Dodder Laurel

Family

Lauraceae

Notes

Perennial parasitic twiner.  Leaves reduced to minute scales.  Flowers tiny (less than 3mm across), greenish to reddish brown outside, cream inside, with 3 petals, solitary or in short spikes or racemes of 1-12 flowers along the stems.  Fruit green to brown, drying black. Family was Cassythaceae.

Description and photo of plant in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales pages 312

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cassytha~melantha