Loranthaceae
Dendropemon

Dendropemon caymanensis Proctor

First published in Phytologia 35: 403 (1977)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Cayman Islands (Little Cayman). It is a hemiparasitic epiphyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Morphology Stem
Stems ca. 2 mm thick near the base, up to ca. 20 cm long, terete, cinereous, branched; branches more or less compressed, smooth and glabrous, with internodes 0.7–1.5 cm long
Morphology Leaves
Leaves with petioles 1–1.5 mm long, the blades oblong to oblanceolate-oblong, 0.5–2.5 cm long, 3–10 mm broad, subacute and apiculate at the apex, narrowed toward the base, the median nerve prominent especially beneath, the lateral nerves few, obscurely prominulous or obsolete, the margins flat and entire, the texture subcoriaceous. Inflorescences much shorter than most leaves, with peduncles 1.5–4.5 mm long and rhachis up to 1 cm long, rather stiff, 4–8-flowered, smooth and glabrous throughout, the rhachis more or less compressed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
Pedicels 0.5–1 mm long; bracteoles with shortly triangular free apex
Morphology General Buds
Flower-buds oblong, obtuse; calyculus cup-shaped and truncate; petals of open flowers ligulate, ca. 1.8 mm long and 0.5–0.6 mm broad
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style 0.9–1.1 mm long, with subcapitate stigma. Berries obovoid, blackish-purple, up to 5.5 mm long.
Ecology
Little Cayman. Endemic. This species is known only from the type locality, where it grows as a parasite on Capparis cynophallophora and other trees.
Recognition
It appears to be related to D. purpureus (L.) Krug & Urban of the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, and to D. rigidus Urban & Ekman of the Dominican Republic, but is smaller than either of these.
[Cayman]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56499882/56503946

Conservation
CR - critically endangered
[IUCN]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0