Plant: aerial parasitic shrub; 2-25 cm high, glabrous, dioecious; SHOOTS 10-15(-25) cm high, 3-8 mm wide at base, greenish-yellow to dark brown; Leaves: reduced to minute scales Inflorescence: axillary spikes Flowers: decussate (sometimes whorled), short pedicellate; STAMINATE FLOWERS 3-3.5 mm long, 2-4 mm in diameter, the tepals 3 with a central nectary, the perianth segments (2-)3-4(-5), each segment bearing a sessile, circular, uniloculate anther; PISTILLATE FLOWERS ca. 1.5 mm long with a single style and rounded stigma, the perianth segments 2, persistent Fruit: whitish-blue, glaucous on base, 4-5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, bicolored, dehiscing explosively (to 15 m); pedicels curved at maturity; SEED without a thickened seed coat, eaten and distributed primarily by birds or dispersed explosively Misc: Chihuahua pine woodlands; 1700-2450 m (550-8000 ft); Mar-Apr Notes: HOST: Pinus leiophylla var. chihuahuana REFERENCES: Hawksworth, Frank G. 1994. Viscaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27(2), 241-245.