Editing Mistletoe

{{Short description|Common name for various parasitic plants}}
{{Other uses|Mistletoe (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|text=[[TOW missile]], or [[Mistel]], part of a German composite aircraft}}
[[File:Mistletoe in White Poplar 1.jpg|thumb|right|European mistletoe (''[[Viscum album]]'') attached to a dormant common aspen (''[[Populus tremula]]'')]]
[[File:mistletoe.jpg|thumb|right|Mistletoe in an apple tree]]

'''Mistletoe''' is the common name for [[obligate parasite|obligate]] [[parasitic plant|hemiparasitic]] [[plant]]s in the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Santalales]]. They are attached to their host tree or [[shrub]] by a structure called the [[haustorium]], through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. There are hundreds of species which mostly live in tropical regions.

The name mistletoe originally referred to the species ''[[Viscum album]]'' (European mistletoe, of the family [[Santalaceae]] in the order Santalales); it is the only species native to the [[British Isles]] and much of Europe.  A related species with red fruits, rather than white, ''[[Viscum cruciatum]]'', occurs in Southwest Spain and Southern Portugal, as well as in [[Morocco]] in [[North Africa]] and in southern Africa.<ref name="POWO"/> There is also a wide variety of species in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Australian Mistletoes: unwrapping the mysteries of these intriguing native plants (CISRO) |date=2 December 2019 |url=https://blog.publish.csiro.au/australian-mistletoes/ }}</ref> The genus ''Viscum'' is not native to [[North America]], but ''Viscum album'' was introduced to Northern California in 1900.<ref>USDA, NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 August 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 US</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0329.1986.tb01045.x | doi=10.1111/j.1439-0329.1986.tb01045.x | title=Spread of European mistletoe (Viscum album) in California, U.S.A. | date=1986 | last1=Hawksworth | first1=F. G. | last2=Scharpf | first2=R. F. | journal=European Journal of Forest Pathology | volume=16 | pages=1–5 }}</ref>

The eastern mistletoe native to North America, ''[[Phoradendron leucarpum]]'', belongs to a distinct genus of the family Santalaceae.

European mistletoe has smooth-edged, oval, evergreen leaves borne in pairs along the woody stem, and waxy, white [[berries]] that it bears in clusters of two to six. The eastern mistletoe of North America is similar, but has shorter, broader leaves and longer clusters of ten or more berries.

Over the centuries, the term mistletoe has been broadened to include many other species of parasitic plants with similar habits, found in other parts of the world, that are classified in different [[genus|genera]] and families such as the [[Misodendraceae]] of South America and the mainly southern hemisphere tropical [[Loranthaceae]].

== Etymology ==
The word 'mistletoe' derives from the older form 'mistle' adding the [[Old English]] word {{Lang|ang|tān}} ([[twig]]).  'Mistle' is from [[Common Germanic]] (cf. [[Old High German]] {{Lang|goh|mistil}}, [[Middle High German]] {{Lang|gmh|mistel}}, Old English {{Lang|ang|mistel}}, [[Old Norse]] {{Lang|non|mistil}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://woerterbuchnetz.de/DWB/?sigle=DWB&mode=Vernetzung&lemid=GM05261|last=Grimm|first=Jacob and Wilhelm|title=Deutsches Wörterbuch|publisher=Woerterbuchnetz|access-date=November 30, 2014}}</ref> Further [[etymology]] is uncertain, but may be related to the Germanic base for 'mash'.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd edition, December 2000</ref>

''[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]'' claims a similar theory, noting: "The alteration of the ending... is perhaps from a mistaking of the final ''-n'' for a [[plural]] [[suffix]] after ''tan'' fell from use as a separate word, but [[Oxford English Dictionary|''Oxford'']] finds it a natural evolution in [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]] based on [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]]."<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/mistletoe#etymonline_v_16319
 |title=Mistletoe
 |website=Online Etymology Dictionary
 |publisher=Douglas Harper
 |access-date=28 December 2024
 }}</ref>

== Groups ==
[[Parasitism]] has evolved at least twelve times among the vascular plants.<ref>JH Westwood, JI Yoder, MP  Timko, CW dePhamphilis (2010) "The evolution of parasitism in plants". ''Trends Plant Sci'' 15:227-235</ref> Molecular data show the mistletoe habit has evolved independently five times within the Santalales—first in the [[Misodendraceae]], but also in the [[Loranthaceae]] and three times in the Santalaceae (in the [[APG IV system|former Santalalean families]] [[Eremolepidaceae]] and [[Viscaceae]], and the tribe Amphorogyneae).<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.016 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.016 | title=The first mistletoes: Origins of aerial parasitism in Santalales | date=2008 | last1=Vidal-Russell | first1=Romina | last2=Nickrent | first2=Daniel L. | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=47 | issue=2 | pages=523–537 | pmid=18378469 }}</ref>

The largest family of mistletoes, the [[Loranthaceae]], has 73 genera and more than 900 species.<ref>WS Judd, CS Campbell, EA Kellogg, PF Stevens & MJ Donaghue (2002) ''Plant systematics: a phylogenetic approach''. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland Massachusetts, USA. {{ISBN|0-87893-403-0}}</ref> [[subtropics|Subtropical]] and [[tropics|tropical]] [[climate]]s have markedly more mistletoe species; Australia has 85, of which 71 are in Loranthaceae, and 14 in Santalaceae.<ref name="Barlow-1983">B. A. Barlow (1983) A revision of the Viscaceae of Australia. ''Brunonia'' 6, 25–58.</ref>

== Life cycle ==
Mistletoe species grow on a wide range of [[Host (biology)|host tree]]s, some of which experience side effects including reduced growth, stunting, and loss of infested outer branches. A heavy infestation may also kill the host plant. ''Viscum album'' successfully parasitizes more than 200 tree and shrub species.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

All mistletoe species are [[parasitic plant|hemiparasites]] because they do perform some [[photosynthesis]] for some period of their life cycle. However, in some species its contribution is very nearly zero. For example, some species, such as ''[[Viscum minimum]]'', that parasitize [[Succulent plant|succulent]]s, commonly species of [[Cactaceae]] or [[Euphorbiaceae]], grow largely within the host plant, with hardly more than the flower and fruit emerging. Once they have germinated and attached to the circulatory system of the host, their photosynthesis reduces so much that it becomes insignificant.<ref name="Visser-1981">{{cite book |author=Visser, Johann |title=South African parasitic flowering plants |publisher=Juta |location=Cape Town |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-7021-1228-7 }}</ref>

[[File:Mistleltoe in Lebanon.JPG|thumb|Mistletoe in winter]]
Most of the Viscaceae bear evergreen [[leaf|leaves]] that [[photosynthesis]]e effectively, and photosynthesis proceeds within their green, fleshy stems as well. Some species, such as ''[[Viscum capense]]'', are adapted to [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] conditions and their leaves are [[vestigial]] scales, hardly visible without detailed [[Morphological typology|morphological]] investigation. Therefore, their photosynthesis and transpiration only take place in their stems, limiting their demands on the water supply of its host, but also limiting their intake of [[carbon dioxide]] for photosynthesis. Accordingly, their contribution to the metabolic balance of its host becomes trivial and the idle parasite may become quite yellow or golden as it grows, having practically given up photosynthesis.<ref name="Visser-1981"/>

At another extreme, other species have vigorous green leaves. Not only do they photosynthesize actively, but a heavy infestation of mistletoe plants may take over whole host tree branches, sometimes killing practically the entire crown and replacing it with their own growth. In such a tree the host is relegated purely to the supply of water and mineral nutrients and the physical support of the trunk. Such a tree may survive as a ''Viscum'' community for years; it resembles a totally unknown species unless one examines it closely, because its foliage does not look like that of any tree. An example of a species that behaves in this manner is ''Viscum continuum''.<ref name="Visser-1981"/>

A mistletoe seed germinates on the branch of a host tree or shrub, and in its early stages of development it is independent of its host. It commonly has two or even four embryos, each producing its [[hypocotyl]], that grows toward the bark of the host under the influence of light and gravity, and potentially each forming a mistletoe plant in a clump. Possibly as an adaptation to assist in guiding the process of growing away from the light, the adhesive on the seed tends to darken the bark. On having made contact with the bark, the hypocotyl, with only a rudimentary scrap of root tissue at its tip, penetrates it, a process that may take a year or more. In the meantime the plant is dependent on its own photosynthesis. Only after it reaches the host's conductive tissue may it begin to rely on the host for its needs. Later, it forms a [[haustorium]] that penetrates the host tissue and takes water and nutrients from the host plant.<ref name="Visser-1981"/>

Species more or less obligate include the leafless quintral, ''[[Tristerix]] aphyllus'', which lives deep inside the sugar-transporting tissue of a spiny cactus, appearing only to show its tubular red flowers,<ref>Susan Milius, "Botany under the Mistletoe" ''Science News'' '''158'''.26/27 (December 2000:412).</ref> and the genus  ''[[Arceuthobium]]'' (dwarf mistletoe; Santalaceae) that has reduced photosynthesis; as an adult, it manufactures only a small proportion of the [[sugars]] it needs from its own photosynthesis, but as a [[seedling]] actively photosynthesizes until a connection to the host is established.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Some species of the largest family, Loranthaceae, have small, [[insect pollination|insect-pollinated]] flowers (as with Santalaceae), but others have spectacularly showy, large, [[bird pollination|bird-pollinated]] flowers.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds who eat the 'seeds' (in actuality [[drupe]]s). Of the many bird species that feed on them, the [[mistle thrush]] is the best-known in Europe, the [[phainopepla]] in southwestern North America, and ''[[Dicaeum]]'' [[flowerpecker]]s in Asia and Australia. Depending on the species of mistletoe and the species of bird, the seeds are regurgitated from the crop, excreted in their droppings, or stuck to the bill and causing the bird to have to wipe it off onto a branch. The seeds are coated with a sticky material called [[viscin]]. Some viscin remains on the seed and when it touches a stem, it sticks tenaciously. The viscin soon hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host, where it germinates and its haustorium penetrates the sound bark.<ref>{{cite book|title=Zulu Journal|year=1959|url=https://archive.org/details/zulujournalfield0000cowl|url-access=registration|access-date=17 May 2013|publisher=University of California Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/zulujournalfield0000cowl/page/114 114]–|id=GGKEY:5QX6L53RH1U}}</ref>

Specialist mistletoe eaters have adaptations that expedite the process; some pass the seeds through their unusually shaped digestive tracts so fast that a pause for defecation of the seeds is part of the feeding routine. Others have adapted patterns of feeding behavior; the bird grips the fruit in its bill and squeezes the sticky-coated seed out to the side. The seed sticks to the beak and the bird wipes it off onto the branch and consumes the remainder of the fruit.<ref name="Burton-2002">{{cite book|author1=Maurice Burton|author2=Robert Burton|title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P0_AD0v7vl0C&pg=PA869|access-date=17 May 2013|year=2002|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7266-7|pages=869–}}</ref> An example of a bird with this adapted method is the [[blackcap]] (''Sylvia atricapilla'').<ref name="mistletoe - blackcap">{{cite web |last1=Elias |first1=Emily |title=Why track mistletoe? |url=https://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/podcasts/why-track-mistletoe/ |website=Oxford Sparks |access-date=6 January 2025}}</ref>

Biochemically, viscin is a complex adhesive mix containing [[Cellulose|cellulosic]] strands and [[mucopolysaccharide]]s.<ref name="IntSocHortSci-2009">{{cite book|author1=International Society for Horticultural Science. Section for Ornamental Plants|author2=International Society for Horticultural Science. Commission on Landscape and Urban Horticulture|author3=International Society for Horticultural Science. Working Group on New Ornamentals|title=Proceedings of the VIth International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops: Funchal, Portugal, June 11–15, 2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEAfAQAAMAAJ|access-date=17 May 2013|year=2009|publisher=International Society for Horticultural Science|isbn=978-90-6605-200-0}}</ref>

Once a mistletoe plant is established on its host, it usually is possible to save a valuable branch by pruning and judicious removal of the wood invaded by the [[haustorium]], if the infection is caught early enough. Some species of mistletoe can regenerate if the pruning leaves any of the haustorium alive in the wood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7437.html|title=Mistletoe|publisher=University of California - Davis|access-date=November 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>Torngren, T. S., E. J. Perry, and C. L. Elmore. 1980. Mistletoe Control in Shade Trees. Oakland: Univ. Calif. Agric. Nat. Res. Leaflet 2571</ref>

== Toxicity ==
There are 1500 species of mistletoe, varying widely in toxicity to humans; the European mistletoe (''[[Viscum album]]'') is more toxic than the American mistletoe (''[[Phoradendron serotinum]]'').<ref name="poisin.org">{{cite web |title=Is mistletoe poisonous? |url=https://www.poison.org/articles/2015-dec/mistletoe |website=www.poison.org |publisher=National Capital Poison Center |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="medicineplus">{{cite web |title=Mistletoe poisoning |url=https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002883.htm |website=MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia |publisher=National Library of Medicine |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

The primary active toxic compounds in American mistletoe are [[phoratoxins]] (in ''Phoradendron'') and their effects can include [[blurred vision]], [[diarrhea]], [[nausea]], and [[vomiting]], although these rarely occur.<ref name="medicineplus"/>  Their primary mechanism of action is through disruption of cell membranes which causes [[lysis]] and cell death at high concentrations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Markman |first1=Ofer |last2=Rao |first2=Usha |last3=Lewis |first3=Karen A. |last4=Heffron |first4=Gregory J. |last5=Stec |first5=Boguslaw |last6=Teeter |first6=Martha M. |chapter=Mode of Phospholipid Binding to the Membrane Active Plant Toxin Phoratoxin-A |title=New Developments in Lipid-Protein Interactions and Receptor Function |date=1993 |pages=263–274 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-2860-9_25|isbn=978-1-4613-6239-5 }}</ref>

In European mistletoe (''Viscum''), [[viscumin]] is the more dangerous  active toxin.  It acts by irreversibly inhibiting [[ribosome|ribsomal]] protein synthesis in cells,  which leads to the death of the affected cell, tissue damage in the area of exposure from mass cell death in the very short term, with the potential for organ failure and death depending on the level of exposure.  Early symptoms depend mostly on the route of exposure as the first cells it contacts (thus the first to have their protein synthesis deactivated by it) will be the first to die.  Its toxic effects take place through the same mechanism as [[ricin]] and other [[ribosome-inactivating protein]]s but it enters the cells by a different mechanism than ricin and is toxic even to cultured ricin-resistant cells.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olsnes |first1=S |last2=Stirpe |first2=F |last3=Sandvig |first3=K |last4=Pihl |first4=A |title=Isolation and characterization of viscumin, a toxic lectin from Viscum album L. (mistletoe). |journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry |date=25 November 1982 |url=https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(18)33440-9/pdf |volume=257 |issue=22 |pages=13263–70 |doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)33440-9 |doi-access=free |pmid=7142144}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stirpe |first1=F |last2=Sandvig |first2=K |last3=Olsnes |first3=S |last4=Pihl |first4=A |title=Action of viscumin, a toxic lectin from mistletoe, on cells in culture. |journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry |url=https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(18)33441-0/pdf  |date=November 1982 |volume=257 |issue=22 |pages=13271–13277 |doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)33441-0|doi-access=free |pmid=7142145 }}</ref> 

Mistletoe has been used historically in medicine for its supposed value in treating [[arthritis]], [[high blood pressure]], [[epilepsy]], and [[infertility]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== Ecological importance ==
Mistletoes are often considered pests that kill trees and devalue natural habitats, but some species have recently been recognized as ecological [[keystone species]], organisms that have a disproportionately pervasive influence over their community.<ref name="Watson-2001">[[David M. Watson]], "Mistletoe-A Keystone Resource in Forests and Woodlands Worldwide" ''Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics'' '''32''' (2001:219–249).</ref> A broad array of animals depend on mistletoe for food, consuming the leaves and young shoots, transferring [[pollen]] between plants and dispersing the sticky seeds. In western North America their juicy berries are eaten and spread by birds (notably the [[phainopepla]]) while in Australia the [[mistletoebird]] behaves similarly. When eaten with the fruit, some seeds pass unharmed through their digestive systems, emerging in extremely sticky droppings which the bird deposits on tree branches, where some may stick long enough to germinate. As the plants mature, they grow into masses of branching stems that suggest the popular name "witches' brooms".{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

The dense evergreen [[witch's broom|witches' brooms]] formed by the [[dwarf mistletoe]]s (''[[Arceuthobium]]'' species) of western North America also make excellent locations for roosting and nesting of the northern [[spotted owl]] and the [[marbled murrelet]]. In Australia the [[diamond firetail]] and [[painted honeyeater]] are recorded as nesting in different mistletoes.

A study of mistletoe in [[juniper]]s concluded that more juniper berries sprout in stands where mistletoe is present, as the mistletoe attracts berry-eating birds who also eat juniper berries.<ref>Susan Milius, "Mistletoe, of All Things, Helps Juniper Trees" ''Science News'' '''161'''.1 (January 2002:6).</ref>

== Cultural importance ==
{{see also|Viscum album#Culture, folklore and mythology}}
[[File:Adrien Barrère14.jpg|thumb|left|''The Mistletoe Seller'' by [[Adrien Barrère]]]]
Mistletoe is relevant to several cultures. [[Pagan]] cultures regarded the white berries as symbols of [[male fertility]], with the seeds resembling [[semen]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mistletoe-the-evolution-of-a-christmas-tradition-10814188/|title = Mistletoe: The Evolution of a Christmas Tradition |journal = Smithsonian|volume = Dec. 21, 2011|access-date = 9 October 2018}}</ref> The [[Celts]], particularly, saw mistletoe as the semen of [[Taranis]], while the [[Ancient Greeks]] referred to mistletoe as "oak sperm".<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1590|title = The Golden Bough: Mistletoe History and Lore|access-date = 9 October 2018|website = The Symbol Dictionary|archive-date = 9 October 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181009211429/http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1590|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices|journal = Annals of General Psychiatry | volume = 8|pages = 21|author = Michele Fornaro, Nicoletta Clementi and Pantaleo Fornaro|doi = 10.1186/1744-859X-8-21|pmc = 2762970|year = 2009|pmid = 19811642 |doi-access = free }}</ref> Also in Roman mythology, mistletoe was used by the hero [[Aeneas]] to reach the underworld.<ref name="Woodland Trust">{{Cite web|url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/mistletoe/|title=Mistletoe (Viscum album) - British Plants}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/how-to-grow/in-pictures-the-history-of-mistletoe/mistletoe2/ The Telegraph - The History of Mistletoe]</ref>

Mistletoe may have played an important role in [[Druid|Druidic mythology]] in the [[Ritual of oak and mistletoe|Ritual of Oak and Mistletoe]], although the only ancient writer to mention the use of mistletoe in this ceremony was Pliny. Evidence taken from bog bodies makes the Celtic use of mistletoe seem medicinal rather than ritual.<ref>Williams, Anarchy. ''Did the ancient Celts practice human sacrifice?'' Diss. University of Wales, Trinity St David, 2014, p.55</ref> It is possible that mistletoe was originally associated with human sacrifice and only became associated with the white bull after the Romans banned human sacrifices.<ref>Kandela, Peter. "Mistletoe". ''The Lancet'' 358.9299 (2001): 2186.</ref>

The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] associated mistletoe with peace, love, and understanding and hung it over doorways to protect the household.<ref name="BBC News">Bethan Bell (10 December 2013). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-24987280 "Tenbury Wells: Centuries-old romance with mistletoe"]. ''BBC News''. Accessed 2 April 2021.</ref>

In the advent of the Christian era, mistletoe in the Western world became associated with [[Christmas]] as a decoration under which lovers are expected to kiss, as well as with protection from [[Christian demonology|witches and demons]].<ref name="Mosteller-2010">{{cite book |last1=Mosteller |first1=Angie |title=Christmas |date=2010 |publisher=First Printing |pages=119}}</ref> Mistletoe continued to be associated with fertility and vitality through the Middle Ages, and by the eighteenth century it had also become incorporated into Christmas celebrations around the world. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is referred to as popular among servants in late eighteenth-century England.<ref>"When at Christmas in the hall / The men and maids are hopping, / If by chance I hear them bawl / Amongst them quick I pop in. / All the men, Jem, John, and Joe, / Cry, "What good luck has sent ye?" / And kiss beneath the mistletoe / The girl not turn'd of twenty...", song by [[George Colman the Younger]] in the musical comedy ''Two to One'' (1784)</ref><ref>"The pendant mistletoe, hung up to view / Reminds the youth, the duty youth should do: / While titt'ring maidens, to enhance their wishes / Entice the men to smother them with kisses...", ''The Times'' (London), 24 December 1787 p.3 (poem), ''The Approach of Christmas''.</ref>

The serving class of Victorian England is credited with perpetuating the tradition.<ref name=History.com>{{cite web|title=Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?|url=http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/why-do-we-kiss-under-the-mistletoe|website=History.com|access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> The tradition dictated that a man was allowed to kiss any woman standing underneath mistletoe, and that bad luck would befall any woman who refused the kiss.<ref name="Beam-2011">{{cite web|last1=Beam|first1=Christopher|title=What's the deal with mistletoe?|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/12/whats_the_deal_with_mistletoe.html|website=slate.com|access-date=July 8, 2015|date=2011-12-14}}</ref><ref name="Norton-2010">{{cite web|last1=Norton|first1=Lily|title=Pucker up! Why do people kiss under the mistletoe?|url=http://www.livescience.com/32901-why-we-kiss-under-mistletoe.html|website=livescience.com|date=21 December 2010|access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> One variation on the tradition stated that with each kiss a berry was to be plucked from the mistletoe, and the kissing must stop after all the berries had been removed.<ref name=History.com/><ref name="Norton-2010" />

From at least the mid-nineteenth century, Caribbean herbalists of African descent have referred to mistletoe as "god-bush".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Macfadyen |first1=J. |title=Flora Jamaica |date=1850 |page=198 |volume=II |quote=West-India Mistletoe... receives the name of the God-Bush from the Negroes.}}</ref> In Nepal, diverse mistletoes are used for a variety of medical purposes, particularly for treating broken bones.<ref name="O'Neill-2019">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=A. R.| last2=Rana | first2= S. K. | date=2019 |title=An ethnobotanical analysis of parasitic plants (Parijibi) in the Nepal Himalaya |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=12 |issue=14 |pages=14|doi=10.1186/s13002-016-0086-y |pmid=26912113|pmc=4765049 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Mistletoe is the floral emblem of the U.S. state of [[Oklahoma]] and the flower of the UK county of [[Herefordshire]]. Every year, the UK town of [[Tenbury Wells]] holds a mistletoe festival and crowns a 'Mistletoe Queen'.<ref name="BBC News"/>

== See also ==
* [[Witch's broom]], a growth of the host plant's own tissue, rather than a parasite in itself
* [[Festive ecology]]
* [[Kissing bough]]
* ''[[Viscum album]]''
* [[Baldr]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:552319-1 |title=Viscum cruciatum |work=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{commons}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikispecies|Santalales}}
{{Collier's Poster}}
* [http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/ Parasitic Plant Connection. See families Misodendraceae, Loranthaceae, Santalaceae, and Viscaceae]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161005194620/http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/pathogengroups/pages/parasiticplants.aspx Introduction to Parasitic Flowering Plants by Nickrent & Musselman]
* [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/phle14.htm ''Phoradendron serotinum'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115004520/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/phle14.htm |date=2009-01-15 }}
* [http://wissenschaft.mistel-therapie.de/?lang=1 Scientific Studies, Research and Clinical Trials on Mistletoe Treatment in Cancer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008181649/http://wissenschaft.mistel-therapie.de/?lang=1 |date=2007-10-08 }}
* [http://sites.google.com/site/wvdaplantpath/Home/mistletoe-feature Deck the halls with wild, wonderful mistletoe, West Virginia Department of Agriculture]
* {{Cite EB9|wstitle=Mistletoe|volume=16|short=x}}
* {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Mistletoe|short=x}}
* [https://www.anbg.gov.au/mistletoe/index.html ANBG: Mistletoe] Accessed 22 January 2018.

{{Christmas}}

[[Category:Christmas plants]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:Parasitic plants]]
[[Category:Santalales]]
[[Category:Symbols of Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Winter traditions]]
[[Category:Plant common names]]