In an early reference to the group in Australia Allan Cunningham explorer and first Director[5] of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, wrote in 1817: "The Bastard Box[note 1] is frequently much encumbered with the twining adhering Loranthus aurantiacus[6] (box mistletoe) which 'Scorning the soil, aloft she springs, Shakes her red plumes and claps her golden wings'.

Mostly parasitic on species of Acacia, Alectryon, Amyema, Cassia, Casuarinaceae, Eremophila, Exocarpos, and exotic trees, west from Moree district.

It is found in open woodland and forest, usually on species of Casuarinaceae, north from the Hunter Valley[11] First described in 1925 by Blakely as Loranthus exocarpi var.

L. exocarpi is the only species that extends its range into temperate non-arid regions, with DNA values predominantly above 100, the average being 117 units.

[16] L. exocarpi: Occurs in arid and temperate regions of all mainland States, from Lake Carnegie, W.A, to the Hunter Valley, NSW, in open forest and woodland on many different hosts but frequently on other Loranthaceae.

exocarpi: Occurs in arid and temperate Australia from Lake Carnegie, Q.A., to western Qld and central Vic; on many host species, most frequently on Acacia, Amyema, Cassia, Casuarinaceae, Eremophila, Exocarpos, Alectryon and exotic trees.

tenuis: Occurs in Qld and NSW from the Darling Downs to the Hunter Valley and inland to the Western Plains, in open woodland and forest, usually on Casuarinaceae.

The commonly recorded exotic host species included Nerium oleander, Citrus spp., Prunus spp., Schinus molle and Quercus spp.

The host families were Apocynaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Capparaceae, Casuarinaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Loranthaceae, Malvaceae, Meliaceae, Mimosaceae, Moraceae, Myoporaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, Pittosporaceae, Polygonaceae, Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rutaceae, Santalaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophyllaceae.

[25] The mistletoe fruit is a single-seeded berry, often brightly coloured, with striking adaptations for bird dispersal, germination and attachment.

Notable dispersal agents are the mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum),[26] and some honeyeaters in Australia (Grantiella, Acanthagenys, Plectorhyncha) According to Les Hiddins, Aboriginal people would eat the fruit without chewing so they wouldn't stick to the tongue.

[28] Jennifer Isaacs lists berries of L. exocarpi and L.spathulata as being eaten in the Central desert[29] Peter Latz notes that the calories obtained would be rather low.

[31] Reference to the fruit was first contained in a letter written by Governor Gawler during an ill-fated expedition in 1839 led by Charles Sturt.

He brought me the pulpy but bitter fruit of the mesembryantheumum and the little berries of the exocarpi - and ate plenty of them himself - he made many observations about our course, appearing to recollect its striking features well, and calculated our distances with much precision".

Public interest in the United States was spurred in 2001 following actress Suzanne Somers' decision to use Iscador in lieu of chemotherapy following her treatment for breast cancer.

[33] In 2007 researchers from Griffith University in Queensland found that a new natural product, lysianadioic acid, isolated from Lysiana subfalcata(in the same genus[34][citation needed]) was a carboxypeptidase B (CPB) inhibitor.