Viscum minimum Viscum minimum Viscum minimum is a species of mistletoe in the family Santalaceae. It is a parasitic plant native to South Africa. In its native habitat "Viscum minimum" uses two species of succulents, "Euphorbia polygona" and "Euphorbia horrida", as host plants. However, given the opportunity, the plant uses a range of succulents, including cacti, as hosts. A mature "Viscum minimum" consists mostly of haustoria within the host plant, but a small stems of less than one millimeter in length with a single whorl of 2-3 scale-like leaves. A single flower, and later a red round fruit with a diameter of
Viscum nudum"), but with the plant drawing its mineral and water needs from the host tree. Different species of "Viscum" tend to use different host species; most species are able to use several different host species. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, diameter. The fruit is a berry, white, yellow, orange, or red when mature, containing one or more seeds embedded in very sticky juice; the seeds are dispersed when birds (notably the mistle thrush) eat the fruit, and remove the sticky seeds from the bill by wiping them on tree branches where they can germinate. "Viscum" species are poisonous to humans;