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.
Originally it contained all mistletoe species, but the typical Christmas mistletoes of Europe and North America (the genera Viscum and Phoradendron) belongs to the family Viscaceae that is sometimes included within the family Santalaceae.
