Survey of mistletoes and their hosts in timberland heights, San Mateo, Rizal

Abstract

Mistletoes are flowering plants referred to as hemiparasites. They grow on several woody hosts’ trunks or branches and send out their haustoria that penetrate into the host’s xylem; they do not draw sugars from the host but carry out their own photosynthesis. Locally known as “dapong–kahoy”, native mistletoe species can be found in the Philippines. Very little is known about mistletoes found in the Philippines, specifically there have been just few studies identifying mistletoes present in the province of Rizal. A forest fragment inside Timberland Heights in San Mateo, Rizal was surveyed for the presence of mistletoes and their respective hosts. The abundance and diversity index were computed for mistletoe species encountered through purposive sampling in the field. There were two mistletoe species and six host species identified in the study site. Scurrula atropurpurea was observed to have infested Pterocarpus indicus, Gmelina arborea, Acacia auriculiformis, Litsea glutinosa and Acacia mangium. S. atropurpurea might have preference over P. indicus as evidenced by the high infestation. Taxillus chinensis seemed to show host– specificity by infesting only Commersonia bartramia. Diversity indices values are Simpson D – 0.8930, Shannon H – 0.2174 and Shannon E – 0.3136. There is a low diversity of mistletoes in the study site since only two species are found. Probable reasons for the presence of the two species are discussed in the paper. Mistletoe infestation is one of the indicators of landscape health, not a cause of degradation. With the severity of infestation found in the study site, the forest patch may not be in a good condition.