"A Woman and a Plant For Our Time"
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| Scientific Name: | Atkinsonia ligustrina (Cunn. ex Lindl.) F.Muell. |
| Author: | Allan Cunningham (1791-1839), John Lindley (1799-1865) & Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller (1825-1896) |
| Common Name: | Louisa’s Mistletoe |
| Plant Family: | LORANTHACEAE |
Louisa's Mistletoe, Atkinsonia ligustrina, was named in honour of Caroline Louisa Waring Atkinson (1834 -1872) a keen artist, novelist, naturalist and botanist who, through her writings, has left us with much insight into the natural world. We are focussing on both the person and the plant this International Women's Week.
Louisa lived for many years at Kurrajong Heights, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and knew Mount Tomah well. The priceless botanical information Louisa has given us, often via fellow botanists of the time such as Dr William Woolls and Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, could have been more bountiful - she was only able to make day field trips, as camping out was discouraged for women at that time and sadly, she died soon after giving birth when she was 38.
The Kurrajong and Mount Wilson Historical Societies are currently researching for an exhibition on the life and works of Louisa Atkinson. This coming Summer the results will be displayed here, at the Mount Tomah Botanic Garden.
A seldom seen shrub, less than 2 metres tall and with opposite pairs of yellowish green leaves this Atkinsonia is the sort of bush which might not command much attention when negotiating lumpy sandstone and prickly shrubs if it were not in flower. It has a local distribution spanning less than 100 kilometres, a Rare or Threatened Australian Plant listing and a surprisingly interesting story.
The plant family, Loranthaceae, to which our small treasure belongs, is comprised of hemiparasites ('hemi-' from the Greek, implying partially, and '-parasite', an organism growing and feeding on another). Another hemiparasite, the mistletoe of Christmas lore, Viscum album, belongs to the plant family Viscaceae.
The cultivation of hemiparasitic plants provides quite a challenge to plant propagators. Our Nursery Manager, Senior Horticulturist, Karen Silvester, with encouragement from the Horticultural Research Coordinator for the Royal Botanic Gardens, has achieved some promising early results.
There are no established plants of Atkinsonia ligustrina within the cultivated area of the Garden though you will be introduced to this plant if you participate in the ecotours of Tomah Spur offered here at Mount Tomah.
Jan Allen
Spokeswoman & Records Officer