Editing Arceuthobium (section)

==Description==
[[File:Arceuthobium vaginatum subsp. cryptopodum.jpg|thumb|Female plant of ''A. vaginatum'' susbp. ''cryptopodum'' on Ponderosa pine]]
They are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], individual plants being either male or female. The [[fruit]] is unusual in that it builds up hydrostatic pressure internally when ripe and shoots the single sticky [[seed]] up to speeds nearly {{convert|50|mph|km/h}}, an example of [[rapid plant movement]].  The [[Arceuthobium americanum|lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe,'' Arceuthobium americanum]], has been found to explosively-disperse its seeds through [[thermogenesis]].<ref name="Thermogenesis-triggered seed dispersal">[http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150209/ncomms7262/full/ncomms7262.html], Rolena A.J. deBruyn, Mark Paetkau, Kelly A. Ross, David V. Godfrey & [[Cynthia Ross Friedman]]. Thermogenesis-triggered seed dispersal in dwarf mistletoe.</ref>  Dwarf mistletoe seeds are enveloped in a [[Hygroscopy|hygroscopic]], glue-like substance called [[viscin]].  Many fail to land on a suitable host's shoot, but some succeed, and in this way they are spread through the forests as a pest front.  The spread of dwarf mistletoes in forest stands is greatest from the overstory to the understory, owing to gravity.  Advantageous stand conditions for the spread of the parasite include an uneven-aged stand structure with severely infected hosts in dominant and codominant crown classes, [[species composition]] dominated by the primary host, and tree densities between 175 and 500 trees/ha.

There are also several species from [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] including one of the smallest in the genus, ''A. minutissimum'' that lives on its host, ''[[blue pine|Pinus wallichiana]]'' in the [[Himalayas]].