Mistletoe

A windy start to the weekend snapped one of the mistletoe from its mooring, high up in the silk tree.

Mistletoe are surprisingly large and heavy, and the branch it is anchored to, was very slender.

 So in actual fact, it was the mooring that snapped.

 

These protrusions are flower buds. Mistletoe flower, and set edible 'berry' like fruit throughout summer; a time when few other native trees blossom, making them an important food source for a variety of animals, birds and insects. This 'source of food' doesn't stop with the mistletoe itself, the multitude of insects attracted to the flowers, fruit and greenery, also benefit insect eating birds, such as magpies, wattle birds and kookaburras. 

For this reason, when we have the mistletoe removed from the silk tree (they are parasitic and too many can and will put stress on the host plant), we always leave one for 'nature'.

I had intended to break this mistletoe up for compost after photographing it, but I'll wait now until the grasshopper has moved on. Hopefully, it won't find the roses.