However, given the opportunity, the plant uses a range of succulents, including cacti, as hosts.

A mature Viscum minimum consists mostly of haustoria within the host plant, with small stems of less than one millimeter in length each with a single whorl of 2-3 scale-like leaves.

A single flower, and later a red round fruit with a diameter of 8-9 millimeters, emerges from these stems.

The leaves and stems are capable of photosynthesis, making the plant technically a hemiparasite.

The Viscum minimum mitochondrial genome has been sequenced, showing an unusual loss of genes or their functions.