Results: Western Europe
Juniper dwarf mistletoe is reported from Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy on Juniperus communis L., J oxycedrus, J. phoenicea, J. thurifera, and Cupressus arizonica (Brilli-Cattarini and Gubellini 1983; Castillo 1993; Catalan 1997; Girerd 1978; Rios Insua 1987) (Table 1). Hess and others (1976) records Arceuthobium oxycedri beyond its natural range in Switzerland; Beer (1951) and Heinricher (1930) report successful infection of the exotic hosts Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. and Platycladus orientalis L. (Table 2).
Portugal
A single specimen resides at FPF labeled as Arceuthobium oxycedri from Portugal. Unfortunately, this specimen is in poor condition and unidentifiable. The label only indicates the date as 1917 and host as Juniperus oxycedrus. Turrill (1926) indicates that juniper mistletoe is "said to occur in Portugal but no trustworthy records have been traced."
In 2001, Arceuthobium oxycedri was collected from Juniperus communis near the village of Vila-Nova de Paiva in the Serra do Montemouro in the Beira-Alta Region of northern Portugal (Table 4, Map 2). This collection represents the first confirmed report of A. oxycedri from Portugal (Lopez Saez, personal communication). Other reports of an Arceuthobium from Portugal all refer to A. azoricum (formerly submerged under A. oxycedri) from the Portuguese territory of the Azores (Hawksworth and Wiens 1976, 1996).
Spain
Arceuthobium oxycedri is widespread across Spain with numerous reported collection sites (Bolòs and Vigo 1990; Castillo 1993; Hawksworth and Wiens 1996; Rios Insua 1987; Turrill 1920) (Table 4, Map 2). Catalan (1997) reports the parasite to be present in 19 provinces of Spain and doubtful in the province of Badajoz. Of particular interest is a cluster of sites in central Spain northwest of Madrid (Map 3). Rios Insua (1987) presents a good summary of information on A. oxycedri and suggests the mistletoe is common in Spain because of favorable environmental conditions and aggressiveness on ornamental Cupressus arizonica E. Greene. Reported sites we were unable to locate include: Pallars Jussà, Ports de Beseit, and l'Alcalatèn (Bolòs and Vigo 1990); Pantano del Burgillo, Pinar del Valle de Iruelas, Cortijo del Robledal, Puebla de Beleña a Tamajón, Fueba, Sierra de Balces, Barranco de Andrebot, "Barnadès, Valpregona", Santa Maria del la Alameda, Zarzalejo, Las Machotas, Celigueta, Larequi, Burgui, and Fuente de la Canalenta (Castillo 1993).
Land use changes, resulting in a disappearance of junipers from the vicinity of Sanlucar de Barameda, (Cadiz Province) have eliminated the obligate host for A. oxycedri since its report from this location (Catalan 1997, Robredo 1999).
Hosts reported from Spain include Juniperus communis, J. oxycedrus, J. phoenicea, J. sabina (rare), J. thurifera (rare), and Cupressus arizonica (Bolos and Vigo 1990; Catalan 1997; Castillo 1993; Hawksworth and Wiens 1996; Rios Insua 1987).
France
Several reports of Arceuthobium oxycedri from southern France in the Departments of Alpes-de-Haute Provence, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, and Vaucluse (Girerd 1978; Hawksworth and Wiens 1996; Rouy and Foucaud 1910; Turrill 1920,) have been published (Table 5, Map 4). In addition, several papers (e.g., Rouy and Foucaud 1910; Fiori 1923-29) refer to the occurrence of A. oxycedri at an undetermined location on the island of Corsica. Brilli-Cattarini and Gubellini (1983) and Pignatti (1982) also mention the occurrence of A. oxycedri on Corsica but regard the report as questionable. Hawksworth and Wiens (1996), however, report collections of A. oxycedri from Juniperus communis from an undetermined location on Corsica residing in the Botanisches Museum Dahlem, Berlin, Germany (B) and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California, USA (CAS). A collection from Corsica also reportedly resides at the herbarium of the University of Munich (M).
Mandin (2003), reports the discovery of Arceuthobium oxycedri in two locations in the Department of Ardéche in the National Park des Cévennes. This location is considerably north and west of the main body of known sites for this parasite in France. Mandin (2003) also lists the location of all sites in France where A. oxycedri is known to occur including the Departments of Alpes-de-Haute Provence, Ardéche, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var and Vaucluse. He also cites two locations in the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales, on the north slope of the Pyrenees Mountains but states these locations are doubtful because they are based on an 1864 record (Companyo 1864) and Arceuthobium oxycedri has not been reported from this Department in recent years. Moreover, Mandin (2003) regards the occurrence of A. oxycedri on the island of Corsica as questionable because the plant has not been observed there during the past century.
Italy
Brilli-Catarini and Gubelini (1983) report the occurrence of Arceuthobium oxycedri from a cluster of sites along the border between Tuscany and the Marches known as the Massa Trabaria (or Trabaria Massif). Elevations of the collection sites range between 575 and 1,000 meters. Host are Juniperus communis and J. oxycedrus. This area was revisited by one of the authors of this paper (W.M. Ciesla) in March and April 2001. Arceuthobium oxycedri was collected at four sites, two previously unreported locations and two new sites (Table 6, Map 5). This is the only known location of this parasite between the Istrian Peninsula (Slovenia and Croatia) and Corsica (France).
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Results: Western Europe
Electronic Publish Date: September 2001
Last Update: August
20, 2008