An almost-Christmas mistletoe

From time to time I have noticed clumps of mistletoe high in the canopies of eucalyptus, but I have rarely looked at them closely, and I can't recall having seen them in flower. However, on my recent trip to the Sunshine Coast I had the chance for a better look. The tubular-shaped flowers were a coral red, but it was the tight embrace of darker trunk and branches against the host (a casuarina or banksia from memory), that I first noticed.

I tried to find a bit more about them and came across this site about South Australian butterflies which describes some of the Australian mistletoes. From the look of it and the host plant, this could be Fleshy Mistletoe, but then, South Australia is a fair distance, and there might be different varieties endemic to Queensland.

Continuing the Christmas theme and colour scheme, these 'jingle' bell-shaped flowers are from the Illawarra Flame Tree Brachychiton acerifolius, which is native to the east coast of Australia. It is deciduous and usually bears its flowers before the new leaves appear. It is widely planted in Brisbane and in flower at the same time as the similarly coloured poinciana.