A custom having ancient pagan connections that was frowned
upon by the church for many years, then used secretly in homes
for a long time, finally became a common holiday practice.
Nevertheless the very nature of mistletoe and also its uses are
poorly understood by many people today.
So rigid were the beliefs of some Europeans regarding the use
of mistletoe a few centuries ago that it was assumed that, unless
kissed beneath it at the solstice, a maid could not wish to be
married that year. Presumably this meant both the summer
solstice, around June 22, and the winter solstice which was on
Dec. 22 last year.
Northerners who retire to subtropical or desert climates soon
realize the importance of evergreens, including mistletoe, during
the Christmas season. Perhaps it was because mistletoe grows
"in the air," not on earth, that it eventually became a
symbol of spiritual qualities.
Along with the oaks it came to represent strength. Displayed
in homes it was thought to bring health, happiness, safety and
good fortune. My very meager conception of it through the years
was simply the fun of hugging an unsuspecting girl beneath a
sprig of mistletoe during the holiday season and being able to
legitimately steal a kiss, even in the presence of her boyfriend
or husband.
Three traditional Christmas greens of the colder European
countries, mistletoe, ivy and holly, have pagan origins.
However, it was the mistletoe that was of most importance during
this season to the Druids, members of an order of priests in
ancient Gaul and Britain who appear in Welsh and Irish legends as
prophets and sorcerers. The European mistletoe, Viscum
album, was commonly found parasitizing oaks as well as apple
trees in England.
It’s difficult to visualize a parasitic shrub having leathery
evergreen leaves and waxy white berries growing out of a tree,
but that is precisely the case with these unusual plants. Most
fruit-eating birds eat the berries and scatter the sticky seeds
by wiping their bills onto the bark of other trees. It is also
believed that the seeds are scattered in the birds' droppings.
In fact mist in Old High German (OHG) means dung. The
Gothic translation of the word mistletoe is "the seeds being
planted in the droppings of birds that have eaten the
berries."
Charlotte and I were fascinated to see great quantities of
American mistletoe growing on trees bordering some city streets
in Oklahoma a few years ago. We purposely drove down a few side
streets in the city of Vinita to photograph the fascinating
plants. Some trees had 30 or more one to three-foot clusters of
the parasitic shrubs adorning their branches. Unfortunately a
tall stepladder would have been necessary in order to obtain
close photographs of the healthiest of the plants containing many
whitish berries.
The scientific name of the American mistletoe is
Phoradendron flavescens. "Phor" in Greek means
thief and "denrdon" refers to tree, so
"tree-thief" would describe this plant perfectly.
Flavescens means yellowish, in allusion to the
yellowish-green leaves. The evergreen leaves are thick, firm and
quite leathery. The forking twigs of these woody parasites break
off easily at the base.
The very tiny flowers are dioecious (die-EE-shus) simply
meaning that separate plants are either male or female. Many
plants in the flowering world are said to be "perfect,"
having both male and female flowers.
Mistletoe plants are actually semi-parasitic. They do contain
some chlorophyll and can manufacture some of their own food.
However these persistent slow growers bring the "kiss of
death" to the trees on which they have been planted by
birds. Indeed, the mistletoe plants grow into the twigs and
branches and will eventually sap the host tree to death. Yes,
the mistletoes are firmly rooted and attached to the tree that
will supply nearly all of their growth requirements. That they
are "air plants" is a misnomer.
I strongly suspect that many property owners have the
unwelcome mistletoe plants removed from their prized trees
including especially red maples, tupelos and other species. No
doubt it is an expensive undertaking to have tree specialists
remove the large greenish clusters from huge old trees. Judging
from the large number of rather isolated properties which we
drove by where most of the big trees were badly infested with
mistletoes, I suspected that the owners simply couldn’t afford to
have them removed.
Here’s hoping all of you fun-loving people had some memorable
experiences beneath the mistletoe this Christmas season! Surely
the Druids didn’t mind it one iota.
A tree full of American Mistletoe in Vinita, Oklahoma
Also see:
This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 01/07/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.
