MISTLETOE

European Mistletoe (Viscum album). Image By H. Zell (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Being the festive season with mistletoe decorations and mistletoe kisses, this strange plant seemed a suitable subject for a blog, so here are some facts, superstitions and folklore...

As a plant without obvious roots or sources of food, it was once thought entirely magical and credited with extraordinary powers - giving rise to its use in medicine and a rich history of folklore. In the Middle Ages it was thought to break the death-like trances of epileptics, dispel tumours, divine treasure, keep witches at bay, and protect the crop of the trees on which it grew. Its use in the treatment of epilpsy continued into the 17th century and, as recently as 1993, a sixty-six year old man told of how, as a boy, he was given mistletoe by a gypsy woman to treat his epileptic fits, and that he had had no seizures since. I have seen mistletoe most commonly on Limes and Apples, but also on Hawthorn, Poplar, Willow, Rowan and False Acacia. It will undoubtedly grow on many other species but Pliny refers to its rarity on Oak, making 'Oak Mistletoe' highly valued for its 'powers' - Oliver Rackham questions if it is ever found on ancient Oak.

Mistletoe on Willow. Image By David Monniaux (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) , via Wikimedia Commons

Though now widespread, the origins of our traditional use of mistletoe in Christmas decorations, and of kissing beneath a sprig are uncertain. Many a time I have loitered beneath the sprig at parties but, uncannily, I always seem to do so at the precise moment  that all the ladies suddenly decide to loiter elsewhere. Still, there is always the mulled wine...

Mistletoe's association with Christmas is coincidental - its use in mid-winter customs pre-dates Christianity. Indeed, at least until the 1960's its inclusion in church decorations was frowned upon on in many parishes - so has the plant a darker past?

The excellent Mistletoe Pages website explains the mixtures of mythology and folklore surrouning the plant, some examples of which are described below.

19th Century Punch cartoon

The kissing tradition is thought related to the use of mistletoe as a fertility symbol. Richard Mabey notes that the green mistletoe on a tree that has shed its leaves seemed an example of spontaneous generation and that  the 'milk white berries held between splayed leaves...seemed signed as a human fertility potion and aphrodisiac. Women who wished to conceive would tie a sprig around their waists or wrists'.  Other local customs to improve soil fertility include a number of variations of burning bundles of Hawthorn twigs and mistletoe on the field, or a man would run over the field carrying this burning globe. These ceremonies would usually end with cider drinking.
These once local traditions are thought to have been revived by more recent revival of interest in Druidism - though the Druidic and Celtic fertility rites involving golden sickles and white-robed virgins (see below) would become sanitised to a Christmas kiss. Nevertheless, the kissing custom soon spread to many English speaking countries - though most of our Christmas mistletoe is imported from the orchards of Normandy.

In Norse, Greek and Roman mythology, and European culture, mistletoe is more associated with peace than fertility. In legend, the Nors god Baldr, was killed by a weapon made from mistletoe. Baldr was was one of the most popular gods, known as Baldr the Beautiful, but he was plagued by dreams foretelling his death and so, in an effort to reassure and protect him, his mother made everything, plant, animal or rock, living on or growing in the earth swear never to harm him. But jealous god Loki realised that mistletoe had been left out of the oath and contrived a weapon made from it – variously described as an arrow, dart or spear. Rather than do his own dirty work he persuaded Hod, Baldr’s blind brother to strike with this weapon, ensuring that Hod took the immediate blame. Baldr died from this single wound, and all the gods mourned for him. Baldr's mother, Frigg, wept tears that turned into the pearlescent berries of mistletoe and rather than punish the plant, she decreed that it should be a symbol of peace and friendship evermore.

In France it was often given as a Porte Bonheur - a gift for luck, particularly for the New Year, rather than at Christmas.

Baldr the god from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript

According to Pliny the druidic priesthood valued, worshipped even, mistletoe where it grew on their sacred trees, particularly their oaks.  They would climb the tree to harvest it, cutting it with a golden sickle, then let it fall naturally to be caught in a hide or cloak before it touched the ground.  If it did reach the ground it would lose its special powers.  The special harvest would then be used in ritual or in medicine - two white bulls would be sacrificed and the mistletoe used to make an elixir to cure infertility and the effects of poison. It was the eighteenth century fad for Druidism that revived old customs into national fashion. Modern Druid groups still take an interest in mistletoe, especially on Oak. In 2004 a new Druid initiative called the Mistletoe Foundation was established to review and rekindle interest in the mistletoe ritual described by Pliny.  The group is open to all, druid or non-druid, and they have events each year in the Tenbury Wells area. In the Asterix comics, venerable Druid Getafix is often depicted among oak trees, robed in white, and bearing a golden sickle

Getafix whose potion used Mistletoe as a key ingredient

Enough myth and folklore - now for something completely different - a few mistletoe facts:

Mistletoe is in the Order Santales which includes the valuable and scented Sandalwood tree. The Order contains many epiphytes, parasites and hemi-parasites - including the Sandalwood tree itself which, when young at least, taps into the roots of a variety of host trees. Foresters growing Sandalwood in plantations will often use Acacia to start them off. Mistletoe is termed a hemi-parasite because its green leaves manufacture sugars by photosynthesis and it draws only water and mineral nutrients from the host.

There are over seventy species of Mistletoe worldwide, the European Mistletoe being the only one native to Britain. It prefers a mild, humid climate and good numbers of suitable host trees and is particularly common in a wide circle of land around the Severn estuary, where the valleys are moist and there is a tradition of fruit growing.

The stem is yellowish and smooth with tongue-shaped leaves, 1 to 3 inches long, thick and leathery, arranged in pairs. It is much branched and grows to form an often spherical bushy mass about 2 feet across. The flowers are small and inconspicuous and arranged in threes, in close short spikes or clusters in the forks of the branches, and are of two varieties, the male and female occurring on different plants.  They open in May. The fruit is a round, smooth, white berry, ripening in December

By BerndH (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) via Wikimedia Commons

The white berries contain a single seed enclosed in a pulp which is very sticky (giving the plant its botanical name Viscum). This helps them stick to branches when they land on them, usually by the agency of birds. They are said to be particularly enjoyed by the Mistle Thrush - earning the bird its name. The sticky pulp has historically been used in the manufacture of birdlime, a sticky substance spread on branches to trap unfortunate birds. I guess that's known as coming to a sticky end.

By Stefan.lefnaer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

A root, actually called an Haustorium, grows from the seed, penetrates the bark and taps into the host tree's pipework to appropriate water and nutrients for itself. These can also grow through the branch and produce 'buds' breaking back out to form another plant as at 'g' on the diagram below.

Germinating seedling

Diagramatic cross section of mistletoe growing into a branch. Typical swelling - and reduced growth to the right - are clearly shown. (Julius Sachs 832-1897).

Image:Gerhard Elsner (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Whilst host trees can often tolerate some uninvited mistletoe, it can also be harmful, certainly killing branches and even whole trees if the 'infection' is heavy enough. Trees 'pull' water up through millions of tiny vessels, the pulling force being exerted by the osmotic pressure within the leaves and transpiration (evaporation) of water through leaf pores. The force is considerable and the millions of threads of water are as taught as piano wire. They can snap - something that is called cavitation but that a plumber might call an air lock, or a surgeon an embolus - and cells relying on the water from those vessels will die. Mistletoe can increase the tendency to cavitation and sometimes the water supply can give out and the host is killed by desiccation.