According to Scandinavian and Greek customs, if a man and woman should meet under a sprig of Mistletoe they are obliged to kiss each other. Now where was all the mistletoe when I was a teenager? Ha! Ha! Well while this plant lends itself to a romantic legend, it is anything but. Mistletoe is actually a parasitic plant that lives off a host tree. Birds spread the seed from tree to tree through their droppings and also by seed sticking to their beaks and feathers only to be wiped off on a branch or limb. The seed contain a very sticky substance, viscin, which hardens when the seed is left on a new limb attaching the seed firmly to its host. It then taps into the host plant and derives nutrients and minerals from that plant. It can kill the host plant if it gets too developed on a single host and can attach and thrive on a wide variety of trees and shrubs. So by all means hang some Mistletoe around this Christmas but be careful what you do with it when you take it down as the birds may spread the seed to your yard trees.
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtures have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): American Poet, Author, Writer
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