Mistletoe

Mistletoe- the strangler and a kiss

Mistletoe is not a plant most gardeners can grow.  However it figures prominently in American and European holiday decorating and has some fascinating history.  Mistletoe is presently either collected from the wild or semi-cultivated for seasonal use.  Mistletoe is best known today for the Christmas tradition of allowing lovers and strangers to kiss without censor if they are standing under a clump of it.

The name Mistletoe is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words mistal and tan- translated as “dung on a twig”.  It’s also called Birdlime and Devil’s Fuge.

The common mistletoe of Christmas decorations grows wild throughout Europe and parts of North America. The mistletoe native to North America used for decoration is Phoradendron leucarpum, the mistletoe found in Europe is Viscum album, which has also been introduced into warmer places in the US such as California.  Dwarf mistletoe, (Arceuthobium americanum) is also native to North America but it’s not much good for decorating.   There are related species that grow in South Africa and Australia, 1300 species occur throughout the world.

Dwarf mistletoe can be found in the western US, far northern states, including Michigan, and Canada. Dwarf mistletoe looks more like coral with flat, scale like leaves and would not make great holiday decorations.  American mistletoe is found in the southeastern states and has broad oval leaves and clusters of 10 or more white berries. European mistletoe has narrow oval leaves and berries are in clusters of 2-4.  All mistletoes are evergreen.

Most mistletoes prefer deciduous trees, (those that lose their leaves in the winter), but a few species such as Dwarf Mistletoe, will grow on pines, cedars and other conifers. A wide range of host species is used.  Some trees such as apple, oak and ash trees seem to be colonized more frequently and others, like Bradford Pear and Ginko are seldom attacked.

Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic plant.  When a seed from a mistletoe plant, usually deposited in a bit of fertilizer from a bird, or wiped off a bird’s beak, lands on the trunk of a tree it begins to grow.  The seeds germinate best on soft barked trees; they are quite sticky even when birds don’t deposit them.  Dwarf mistletoe “shoots” its seeds away from the parent plant, with the hope the sticky fruit lands on a tree.

Mistletoe sticks a root into the cambium layer of a tree and gets its water and minerals from the tree.  The plants thick, shiny green leaves do provide food for the plant, particularly in winter, when the host tree goes dormant and ceases providing the mistletoe with sugars. Sometimes however mistletoe will cease producing its own food and let the host plant provide all its needs.  

Mistletoe eventually makes a bushy plant, 3-5 foot in diameter hanging from the host tree. The evergreen mistletoe is quite obvious when the trees have lost their leaves in winter.  Some mistletoes turn yellow in winter.  Trees can have several plants in them.

Mistletoe has small whitish flowers in late spring that turn into waxy white berries in early winter. The plants are dioecious, male and female flowers are on separate plants and only female plants produce berries. The berries hang in clusters at the branch ends.  These fruited branch ends are what is collected for Christmas decorations. 

Mistletoe branches become thick and woody over time and places a considerable burden on the host tree. It greatly weakens its host and often kills it by strangulation. It may eventually form the entire crown of a tree, using it to get closer to the sunlight and provide it with an anchor and water.  Mistletoe is hard to kill once a root has firmly inserted itself into the trees cambium layer. Mistletoe may grow back from the root inside a tree for several years after being cut out. 

Still, mistletoe has its place in nature; the berries are eaten by birds, deer, elk, chipmunks and other animals. Many birds take shelter or build nests in its bushy mass.  Northern Spotted Owls often roost in clumps of mistletoe. Hairstreak butterfly larvae feed on mistletoe. Mistletoe was the state flower of Oklahoma until 2004.

If you have a tree you don’t mind harming you can grow mistletoe by collecting fresh, fully ripe berries from a species native to your area.  Don’t use berries from Christmas decorations as most of these berries are not ripe and won’t germinate.  Collect berries in January instead.  Make a small slit in the bark of a tree limb and insert the seed.  You might want to lightly wrap the slit area.  Start several plants since it takes two to pollinate and produce berries.  If you are lucky you will get mistletoe plants.

Medicinal uses of mistletoe centered on curing nervous disorders, it is often cited as a cure for epilepsy.  Some older herbals also list it for arthritis, headaches and fertility cures.  In Europe mistletoe is currently being studied and used as a cure for some cancers and for respiratory problems.  There are now clinical trials in the US for treatment of certain cancers.  Since mistletoe is very poisonous it’s not advised for home herbal use.

The mystery of mistletoe

Mistletoe has a long association with magical or religious rites and herbal medicines. The druids were said to climb oak trees and cut mistletoe to throw it to people standing below.  Mistletoe is never supposed to touch the ground or it will bring bad luck. Those who caught the mistletoe brought it inside to bring good luck to the New Year. 

In Scandinavian folklore Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, was crying over her son Balda, who was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe wood. Her tears fell on the mistletoe wood and white berries appeared.  Frigga declared that from then on the berries would symbolize love and those who met under the mistletoe must kiss. In early Scandinavian custom not only lovers kissed but enemies who could be tricked under the mistletoe had to embrace and declare peace.

Fertility is also associated with mistletoe.  Mistletoe ripens its berries at the time of the winter solstice, when most other things are barren.  Another old use for mistletoe was to cure sterility.  If a man and woman meet under a hanging clump of mistletoe they are supposed to kiss and then pluck a berry from the cluster. When the berries are gone, the mistletoe is no longer of value.  I guess that was supposed to make babies happen, which might be a good reason to avoid standing under mistletoe.

Be careful with those plucked berries and any mistletoe you bring into the house.   Never consume any part of mistletoe. Mistletoe is poisonous and can cause convulsions and/or death in people and pets.  Even the dried plant is toxic and should be kept out of the reach of children and pets.