Oe i nt ae ae ee 
A PASSING GLANCE AT THE FLORA OF PALESTINE. 187 
in Europe only in Southern Spain. It is parasitic almost entirely 
upon Olive Trees. I picked some fine specimens from some vener- 
able Olives at Mamre, behind Abraham’s Oak, not far from the 
new Russian hospital on the brow of the hill. I found it also in 
the Valley of Jehoshaphat at Jerusalem, and in the extensive 
Olive groves in the outskirts of Nablous, through which the road 
to Samaria passes. In this latter place it has become a perfect 
plague ; for large numbers of the trees are infested with it, present- 
ing a melancholy spectacle with their ragged and almost leafless 
branches, contrasting with the healthy full-foliaged appearance of 
the other trees on which it does not grow. The eye picks out 
the diseased trees at once, while the mind wonders why the 
industrious inhabitants of this fair and fertile spot make no 
effort to hinder the spread of a parasite which is fast killing 
their choicest Olive trees, and seriously diminishing a crop upon 
which they so largely depend. But the habitat of this Mistletoe 
that interested me most, was the ‘‘ Field of the Shepherds,” 
below Bethlehem, said by.a very ancient tradition to be the 
spot where ‘‘the glad tidings of great joy” were made known 
to the midnight watchers beside their flocks by the herald 
angels. This field is surrounded by a rude low wall, and within 
it are some fine old Olive Trees, on one of which I noticed 
the matted luxuriant tufts of this parasite. The association of 
Bethlehem with the Mistletoe struck me at the time as a very 
singular one. Here, where the first Christmas was observed, I saw 
growing a plant which forms an essential feature in the festive 
season in northern and western lands. We cannot imagine a 
Christmas without its Mistletoe, any more than without its Holly, 
for the decoration of our homes and churches and feasts on this 
joyous occasion. But it has no part in the Christmas observances 
of the East. It is essentially a northern symbol. It is an 
importation into the Christian festival of a mystic plant which 
belonged to the old nature worship of our pagan forefathers. 
Christianity adopted it, and consecrated it to the new faith, and 
gave it a new significance. As the wise men of the East brought 
their frankincense and myrrh to the cradle of the Divine child, so 
the wise men of the West brought their Mistletoe, which they 
had been accustomed to use in their weird spells of Druidic 
worship. 
