Old World parasitic shrub having branching greenish stems with leathery leaves and waxy white glutinous berries; the traditional mistletoe of Christmas
shrub of central and southeastern Europe; partially parasitic on beeches, chestnuts and oaks
Mistletoe is a plant with pale berries that grows on the branches of some trees. Mistletoe is used in Britain and the United States as a Christmas decoration, and people often kiss under it. a plant with small white berries, which grows on trees. It is traditional to kiss people under a piece of mistletoe at Christmas. Any of many species of semiparasitic green plants of the families Loranthaceae and Viscaceae, especially those of the genera Viscum, Phoradendron, and Arceuthobium, all members of the Viscaceae family. V. album, the traditional mistletoe of literature and Christmas celebrations, is found throughout Eurasia. This yellowish evergreen bush (2-3 ft, or 0.6-0.9 m, long) droops on the branch of a host tree. The thickly crowded, forking branches bear small leathery leaves and yellowish flowers, which produce waxy-white berries containing poisonous pulp. A modified root penetrates the bark of the host tree and forms tubes through which water and nutrients pass from the host to the slow-growing but persistent parasite. The North American counterpart is P. serotinum. Mistletoe was formerly believed to have magical and medicinal powers, and kissing under hanging mistletoe was said to lead inevitably to marriage
The term mistletoe is used for both Viscum album (European mistletoe) and Phoradendron leucarpum (Eastern mistletoe)
{i} green plant with yellowish flowers and waxy white berries that grows parasitically on other trees (native to Europe, northern Africa and Asia); North American shrub that resembles the mistletoe plant; sprig of mistletoe used as a Christmas decoration (under which people customarily kiss)
shrub of central and southeastern Europe; partially parasitic on beeches, chestnuts and oaks Old World parasitic shrub having branching greenish stems with leathery leaves and waxy white glutinous berries; the traditional mistletoe of Christmas American plants closely resembling Old World mistletoe