Identification, Phenology, Ecological Habitat and Damage Caused by Loranthaceae in Plantations of Rural Area of Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Loranthaceae are parasitic vascular plants that live and thrive at the expense of other woody plants. They proliferate on various woody plants and pose a threat to the host. It seemed important to know the pest species implicated in plantations. The target of this study is to identify Loranthaceae in plantations in periurban areas of Daloa to determine their phenology, to know their ecological habitat and to identify the damage caused to hosts, in order to raise the alarm bell the destructive impact of this plant biodiversity on other woody plants. Surveys and botanical inventory carried out on 25 plantations made it possible to identify three species divided into two (2) genera of which the most distributed on all the plantations prospected was Tapinanthus bangwensis (100% presence). The results of the phenophase observations of the three species showed that they overlap in duration and are not independent of each other. Five major damage was observed. Complete defoliating of host branches (45%) and drying of parasitized branches (32.7%) were the predominant damage observed. Knowledge of the phenology of these parasitic species could be used to develop strategies for the effective control of their spreading at favorable times.