Mistletoe  (Viscum album)

Mistletoe is a plant with centuries of superstition and belief attached to it. There are many stories about its supposed magical properties and the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe has persisted for many years. The Victorians, in particular, had an ambivalent attitude towards it, unhappy with the plant’s pagan links but celebrating the romantic legends associated with mistletoe. Mistletoe is a parasite and relies on a host tree to provide it with a growing platform and nutrients. The leaves are evergreen and elliptical in shape, the widest part being at the end of the leaf. They are borne on repeatedly forked branches in the apex of which, in November, a sticky white berry is produced. The appearance of green mistletoe in a lifeless winter tree is, no doubt, one reason why the plant acquired a mystical significance.