APETAL^ 229 



which pierced Baldur that he fell to the ground. 

 The myth is very interesting, but it is not our duty 

 here to give its interpretation. Everyone knows 

 that it used to be customary to give names and 

 legends to swords in the olden time, and in com- 

 memoration of this event more than one sword borne 

 by the champions of the north has been named 

 Mistelteinn {i.e. the Mistletoe) by its owner. It was 

 customary, we are told, to cut down the Mistletoe 

 with a golden hook, the branch so cut being specially 

 virtuous in its use against poisons and other evils." 



ViscuM ALBUM. — Fig. 65 shows numerous plants 

 growing on the host, an apple tree in leaf, forming a dense 

 hush, the stem growing out at right angles. 



67. The Bastard Toadflax Group. 



Like the last, so far as Britain is concerned, this 

 group, the Order Santalacese, is represented by a mono- 

 typic genus, Thesium, with one species, T. linophyllum. 



The total number of known species is, however, 

 about one hundred and fifty, and there are at least 

 twenty-six genera. Like the Mistletoe also these 

 plants are hemiparasitic, bearing some resemblance 

 to the Loranthaceae. They are also related to the 

 Olacineae and Cornaceae. They are parasitic not 

 only on stems, but also on roots, e. g. the British type. 

 From the Spurge Laurel group this group differs in 

 the perianth being attached below to the ovary, and 

 in the valvate segments. Their distribution is 



