Loranthaceae is a family of flowering plants, which has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemi-parasites, all of them except three having the mistletoe habit. The three terrestrial species are Nuytsia floribunda - the Australian christmas tree, Atkinsonia ligustrina - a rare shrub of the Blue Mountains of Australia, and the Central to South American species of Gaiadendron punctatum.