Viscum album subsp. coloratum Komarov, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 22: 107. 1903; V. alni-formosanae Hayata; V. coloratum var. alni-formosanae (Hayata) Iwata.

Shrubs dioecious, green or yellowish green, 30-80 cm tall. Branching apical, di-, tri-, or polychotomous, terete; internodes 5-10 cm, nodes slightly swollen. Leaves opposite or ternate; petiole short; leaf blade elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 3-7 × 0.7-1.5(-2) cm, leathery, 3-5-veined, base attenuate, apex obtuse or rounded. Inflorescences terminal. Male inflorescences cymes; peduncle to 5 mm, sometimes almost absent; involucre navicular, 5-7 mm, usually 3-flowered, central flower with 2 bracts or not. Female inflorescences cymose spikes, subsessile or with peduncle 2-3 mm, 3-5-flowered; terminal flower with 2 bracts or not, lateral flowers each with 1 bract; bracts broadly triangular, ca. 1.5 mm. Male flowers ellipsoid-ovoid in bud, ca. 2 mm; perianth lobes 4, triangular, ca. 1 mm. Stigma nipple-shaped. Berry yellowish, reddish, orange, or red, globose, 6-8 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Sep-Nov.

The plants have medicinal uses and are parasitic on Alnus formosana, Malus baccata, Prunus armeniaca, Pterocarya stenoptera, Pyrus ussuriensis, Quercus mongolica, Ulmus pumila, and species of Populus, Salix, and Tilia.

Forests; 500-2200 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, E Russia].