MISTLETOE 1 (Viscum See also:

• ALBUM (Lat. albus, white)

album)  , a See also:

• SPECIES

species of Viscum, of the botanical See also:

• FAMILY

family Loranthaceae . The whole genus is parasitical, and contains about twenty species, widely distributed in the warmer parts of the old See also:

• WORLD

world; but only the mistletoe proper is a native of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe . It forms an See also:

• EVERGREEN

evergreen See also:

• BUSH

bush, about 4 ft. in length, thickly crowded with forking branches and opposite leaves, which are about 2 in. See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long, obovate-lanceolate in shape and yellowish-See also:

• GREEN, A
• GREEN, ALEXANDER HENRY (1832—1896)
• GREEN, DUFF (1791—1875)
• GREEN, JOHN RICHARD (1837—1883)
• GREEN, MATTHEW (1696-1737)
• GREEN, THOMAS HILL (1836-1882)
• GREEN, VALENTINE (1739–1813)
• GREEN, WILLIAM HENRY (.1825–1900)

green; the dioecious See also:

• FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers, which are small and nearly of the same See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour but yellower, appear in See also:

• FEBRUARY

February and See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

March; the See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white See also:

• BERRY, CHARLES ALBERT (1852-1899)
• BERRY, CHARLES FERDINAND
• BERRY, JOHN, DUKE OF (1340-1416)
• BERRY, or BERRI

berry when ripe is filled with a viscous semi-transparent pulp (whence See also:

• BIRD

bird-See also:

• LIME
• LIME (O. Eng. lim, Lat. limes, mud, from linere, to smear)

lime is derived) . The mistletoe is parasitic both on See also:

• DECIDUOUS (from Lat. decidere, to fall down)

deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs . In See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England it is most abundant on the See also:

• APPLE (a common Teut. word, A.S. aepl, aeppel, O.H.G. aphul, aphal, apfal, mod. Ger. Apfel)

apple-See also:

• TREE (0. Eng. treo, treow, cf. Dan. tree, Swed. Odd, tree, trd, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. opus, oak, and 36pv, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dare, wood)
• TREE, SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM (1853- )

tree, but rarely found on the See also:

• OAK (O. Eng., (lc)

oak . Poplars, willows, lime, See also:

• MOUNTAIN (0. Fr. montaigne; popular Lat. montanea, an adjectival form from the classical mons, montis, whence Eng. " mount," a form usually used along with the name of an individual mountain, e.g. Mt Everest)
• MOUNTAIN, THE (La Montagne)

mountain-ash, maples, are favourite habitats, and it is also found on many other trees, including See also:

• CEDAR (Lat. cedrus, Gr. iapos)

cedar of See also:

• LEBANON
• LEBANON (from Semitic laban, " to be white," or " whitish," probably referring not to snow, but to the bare white walls ofchalk or limestone which form the characteristic feature of the whole range)

Lebanon and See also:

• LARCH (from the Ger. Larche, M.H.G. Lerche, Lat. larix)

larch . The See also:

• FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit is eaten by most frugivorous birds, and through their agency, particularly that of the species which is accordingly known as missel-See also:

• THRUSH (A. S. Prysce, Icel. priistr, Norw. Trast, O. H. Ger. Drosce, whence the mod. Ger. prossel, to be compared with the analogous English form Throstle,l now almost obsolete, both being apparently diminutives)

thrush or mistle-thrush, the plant is propagated . The Latin See also:

• PROVERB (Lat. proverbium, from pro, forth, publicly, verbum, word; the Greek equivalent is irapolµia, from 7rapa, alongside, and oiµos, way, road, i.e. a wayside saying; Ger. Sprichwort)

proverb has it that " Turdus malum See also:

• SIBI

sibi cacat "; but the See also:

• SOWING (from "to sow," O. Eng. shwan, cf. Du. zaaijen, Ger. saen, &c.; the root is seen in Lat. severe, cf. "seed")

sowing is really effected by the bird wiping its See also:

• BEAK (early forms beke and becke, from Fr. bec, late Lat. beccus, supposed to be a Gaulish word; the Celtic bec and beq, however, are taken from the English)

beak, to which the seeds adhere, against the bark of the tree on which it has alighted . The viscid pulp soon hardens, affording a See also:

• PROTECTION

protection to the See also:

• SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed; in germination the sucker-See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root penetrates the bark, and a connexion is established with the vascular See also:

• TISSUE (Fr. tissu, tissue, participle of tisser, Lat. texere, to weave)

tissue of the first plant . The growth of the plant is slow, and its durability proportionately See also:

• GREAT

great, its See also:

• DEATH

death being determined generally by that of the tree on which it has established itself . The mistletoe so extensively used in England at See also:

• CHRISTMAS (i.e. the Mass of Christ)

Christmas is largely derived from the apple orchards of See also:

• NORMANDY

Normandy; a quantity is also sent from the apple orchards of See also:

• HEREFORDSHIRE

Herefordshire . See also:

• PLINY, THE ELDER
• PLINY, THE YOUNGER

Pliny (H .

N., xvi . 92–95; See also:

• XXIV

xxiv . 6) has a See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• DEAL

deal to tell about the viscum, a deadly See also:

• PARASITE (From Gr. irapa, beside, Tiros food)

parasite, though slower in its See also:

• ACTION

action than See also:

• IVY (A.S. ifig, Ger. Epheu, perhaps connected with apium, anent)

ivy . He distinguishes three genera." " On the See also:

• FIR

fir and larch grows what is called stelis in See also:

• EUBOEA (pronounced Evvia in the modern language)

Euboea and hyphear in See also:

• ARCADIA

Arcadia." Viscum, called dryos hyphear, is most plentiful on the esculent oak, but occurs also on the robur, Prunus sylvestris and See also:

• TEREBINTH

terebinth . Hyphear is useful for fattening See also:

• CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle if they are See also:

• HARDY, ALEXANDRE (1569?-1631)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS DUFFUS (1804-1878)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN
• HARDY, THOMAS (1840- )

hardy enough to withstand the purgative effect it produces at first; viscum is medicinally of value as an emollient, and in cases of See also:

• TUMOUR (Lat. tumor, a swelling)

tumour, ulcers and the like . Pliny is also our authority for the reverence in which the mistletoe when found growing on the robur was held by the See also:

• DRUIDS, ORDER OF

Druids . Prepared as a See also:

• DRAUGHT (from the common Teutonic word " to draw "; cf. Ger. 7'racht, load; the pronunciation led to the variant form " draft," now confined to certain specific meanings)

draught, it was used as a cure for sterility and a remedy for poisons . The mistletoe figures also in Scandinavian See also:

• LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend as having furnished the material of the arrow with which See also:

• BALDER

Balder (the See also:

• SUN
• SUN (0. Eng. sonne, Ger. sonne. Fr. soleil, Lat. sol, Gr. ijXior, from which comes helio- in various English compounds)

sun-See also:

• GOD

god) was slain by the See also:

• BLIND, MATHILDE (1841—1896)

blind god Hoder . Most" probably this See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story had its origin in a particular theory as to the meaning of the word mistletoe .