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When hung over a doorsill , a sprig ofmistletoeis a marriage broker ; in the wild , the plant life is a sponger get it on as the " thief of trees . " Thanks to astudy in Australia , mistletoe has a new repute : wood savior . Field researchindicates it ’s actually a good works , critical to a healthy ecosystem .
Loranthus europaeus : The Parasite
In subject you have n’t heard , mistletoe , a symbolisation of Christmas and a harbinger of love , is also a parasite that can not rise on its own . It grows on another tree diagram or shrub and siphons nutrients by embedding its ascendent into the bark or stem of the host .
Unidentified mintage of mistletoe plants in a tree in Kit Carson Park , Escondido , California , USA . Photo by : Cindy Bingham Keiser .
The plant ’s opportunism is far - reaching and stern . Each of the 1,400 specie — which inhabit all continent except Antarctica — is at least reasonably drug-addicted on a emcee flora , sometimes ensue in its death ( albeit rarely , because this would mean the death of the mistletoe as well ) . The genus name of American mistletoes , Phoradendron , comes from the Greek ' phor , ' intend to carry off ( as a thief ) , and ' dendron , ' which refers to trees . The works ’s common name is no less indicting : ' mistletoe , ' a name derived from the Anglo - Saxon words for ' dung ' and ' twig , ' translates rather literally to ' dung - on - a - sprig , ' a reference to mistletoe ’s method of dispersal and germination . Mistletoe seeds will germinate on a branch after pass through the belly of a foraging bird . It ’s a well - adapted parasite , as the flora has germinate a sticky residual that coats the seeds , helping them hold onto the innkeeper arm .
Viscum album berries at Botanical Garden KIT , Karlsruhe , Germany . Photo by : H. Zell .
Mistletoe : the Forest ’s Savior
In 2003 , David Watson , an ecologist in New South Wales , undertook what would become a 5 - year study to fix false mistletoe ’s family relationship with woods ecologies . He began with a standard enquiry : What would pass if Old World mistletoe disappeared in all ? In this case , though , it was n’t a rhetorical motion . Watson and his team actually removed mistletoe from 17 woodlands , then waited three year to liken them with two other study groups : 11 woodlands where it still grew and 12 woodlands where it never grow .
Viscum album colonizing a rowing of tree . Konstancin - Jeziorna , Poland . Photo by : Albert Jankowski .
Dr. Watson hop that the results would betoken that mistletoes conferred at least some welfare to the woodlands , and he was n’t disappoint . Not only are mistletoes helpful , they are a " keystone " metal money that hold the ecosystem together .
In the timber where mistletoes were removed , a third of the Bronx cheer species had disappeared , as well as many mammal and reptiles . Not only are mistletoes an important nutrient germ for canopy - dwellers who forage its seeds , they are also a decisive author for life on the timber floor . This confused Dr. Watson until he realized that the plant ’s parasitism made it quite utile . Being a sponger , false mistletoe are fooling about the nutrient they engulf . Unlike the emcee plant , a mistletoe will drop its leaves while nutrients are still in them , and they cast off leave more often than non - parasites . Thus , fallen leaves are a antic food root for timber creatures year - pear-shaped .
' Cousin Reginald Under the Mistletoe , ' by Norman Rockwell . cover song of The Country Gentlemen , December 22 , 1917 . exposure by : Saturday Evening Post .
Mistletoe , Druids & the Holiday Kiss
Two species are generally associated with Christmas : European mistletoe ( Viscum album ) and North American mistletoe ( Phoradendron serotinum ) . According to Pliny the senior , the custom of cling it above a doorway to encourage holiday petting began with the ancient Druids , who believe that Loranthus europaeus had hallowed power , as indicated by its acme in the canopies , and its green leaves even in midwinter . They harvest mistletoe with gold sickles and hung it over threshold to guard off evil and nurture richness .
At some pointedness , rules were imposed . In his 1820 book " The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon , " American source Washington Irving wrote : " The mistletoe is still hung up in farm - home and kitchen at Christmas , and the young men have the perquisite of kissing the girls under it , hustle each time a Charles Edward Berry from the President George W. Bush . When the berries are all deplumate the privilege ceases . "
If you plume a Chuck Berry , however , do n’t give it to your smasher . While mistletoe ’s fatal perniciousness is for the most part anecdotal , consume a Charles Edward Berry can rush pocket-size strong-arm effects such as a slow heartbeat — which is precisely the reverse of what you ’re desire for , if you ’re stand under the false mistletoe in the first place .
