Mysterious Allure of
Mistletoe Revealed
By Donita Brannon
On a recent trip to the Texas Hill Country, while walking through the woods, I noticed some mistletoe growing on a tree. I suppose because of my horticultural tendencies, I clipped off a small piece to examine it. (OK, I’ll admit, also quite possibly in the anticipation of a few free kisses.) This unusual plant really got me thinking about all the legend and lore surrounding it. Just why have generations of holiday revelers “met under the mistletoe” for a Christmas kiss? What’s up with that funny name? And how does it happen to grow upon other trees?
Turns out, members of the mistletoe family have been intriguing humankind for thousands of years. The ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plants mysteriously sprouted from the droppings of birds where they had landed on the branches. The mistle thrush would leave its droppings on the tree and suddenly the unusual plant would appear. The ancient European word for dung was “tang.” “Mistle” and “tang” became mistletoe. So, mistletoe literally means, “dung on a twig.” Kind of takes the glamour out of kissing under it, doesn’t it?
Actually, there really wasn’t a lot of mystery to it: the seeds of the mistletoe berries, which the thrush would eat, would pass through the digestive system and be deposited on a branch. The seeds contain a sticky substance called viscin, which acts like a sort of glue to hold the seed in place. The seed then sends out a “holdfast” from which a root (or in this case, a “haustorium”) develops. There are many different kinds of mistletoe, almost 13,000 species. All mistletoe are parasitic to some degree. The mistletoe that I discovered, phoradendron flavens, is considered a hemiparasite. With its evergreen leaves containing chlorophyll, it can actually photosynthesize its own food, taking only water and some nutrients from the host tree. Mistletoe can attach themselves to almost any tree, although some trees have the ability to repel them. Here in Texas they are found mostly on hackberry, willow, mesquite and oak. Trees with minor infestations of mistletoe can withstand these parasites, but large infestations can damage and weaken some trees and occasionally kill them.
Although the berries are poisonous to humans, cattle and other livestock are often fed mistletoe. Mistletoe has been used for centuries in Europe to treat various illnesses such as epilepsy, heart ailments, and tumors, but it has not been cleared for use in the U.S. An anti-cancer drug called Iscador, made from mistletoe extracts, is currently available in Europe. Here in the U.S. there is ongoing research on mistletoe for the development of various pharmaceuticals.
Now, let’s get to the kissing part! Just where did this tradition originate? The answer to that is not so simple, as there are a myriad of legends surrounding it. Some believe it started with the ancient Druids who performed eerie rituals during the winter solstice. The Druids revered the oak tree and the mistletoe, which grew upon it. Druid priests in white robes would cut the mistletoe from the tree using a golden sickle, catching it in a white cloth. They believed if the plant touched the ground it would lose its magical powers. The mistletoe was distributed among the priests who would embrace and kiss each other during these ceremonies.
The most famous legend comes from Scandinavia. Balder, the Norse God of Peace, was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. His life was restored at the request of other gods and goddesses. Mistletoe was given to the Goddess of Love to prevent such an incident from ever happening again. The mistletoe became a symbol of love and anyone who passed beneath it would receive a kiss.
An old English tradition called for removing a berry from the mistletoe bunch after each kiss. When all the berries were gone, the kissing must stop. It was said that a girl not kissed under the mistletoe would not be married before the next Christmas. No matter which legend you tend to believe, it’s easy to make your own kissing ball for the holidays. A fun project to share with your kids is to simply poke mistletoe sprigs into a potato (making sure to remove all the toxic berries first, of course). The moisture in the potato will actually help keep the mistletoe fresh. Tie it securely with a red ribbon, hang from a doorway and let the kissing begin!
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