90 LORANTHE^ 



shire to Sutherland. Mr. Loudon says it is very difficult to cultivate in a 

 garden, though planted in a bed of peat in a shady situation. 



Sub-class III. COROLLIFLOR^. 



Petals united, bearing the stamens. 

 Order XLI. LORANTHEiE— MISTLETOE TRIBE. 



Stamens and pistils often on different plants ; calyx attached to the ovar}^ 

 with 2 bracts at the base, sometimes almost wanting ; petals 4 — 8, united at 

 the base, expanding in a valve-like manner ; stamens equalling the petals in 

 number, and opposite to them; ovary 1 -celled ; style 1 or ; stigma simple ; 

 fruit succulent, 1 -celled, 1 -seeded. This order consists of shrubby plants, 

 which are mostly true parasites, their seeds not germinating on the earth, but 

 only on some other plant. 



Mistletoe (Fiscum).— Stamens and pistils on separate plants. Barren 

 flower without calyx ; petals 4, fleshy, united at the base, each bearing an 

 anther. Fertile flower, calyx a mere rim ; petals 4, very small ; stigma sessile ; 

 berry 1-seeded, crowned by the calyx. Name, the Latin name of the plant. 



Mistletoe {Fiscum). 



Common Mistletoe (F. album). — Stem branched, repeatedly forked; 

 leaves egg-shaped and lanceolate, blunt ; flowers sessile in the foi^ks of the 

 stem. Plant perennial. The Mistletoe-bough, with its pale yellow-green leaves 

 and clear white berries, is not an unfrequent object in the winter woods, or 

 on the trees of gardens or orchards in the southern counties of England. It 

 is found growing on several trees, but is more common on the apple than any 

 other, and is very rarely to be found on the oak. Ray mentions the oak, 

 hazel, and apple as the trees on which this parasite chiefly fixes ; but adds, 

 that it may be found also on the pear, hawthorn, common maple, ash, lime, 

 elm, and service-tree. Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott mention that it 

 occurs in Gloucestershire on the common maple (Acer campestre), and on lime 

 trees and locust trees (Eobinia pseud'acacia) in Bedfordshire. It also grows on 

 cherry laurels in gardens. Mr. Dovaston planted the Mistletoe on twenty- 

 three trees ; but most of the young plants died early, particularly when planted 

 on the resinous or gum-bearing trees ; and he found it to thrive well only on 

 the oak, the apple, and the hawthorn. Some poplar and lime trees, however, 

 in Surrey have been completely destroyed by the quantity of Mistletoe which 

 grew upon them. Mr. Dovaston remarks that he never saw the plant grow- 

 ing well on the oak but once, and that, singular to say, was in Anglesey, in 

 the park of Lord Uxbridge ; and it was the more remarkal)le as hanging 

 almost over a very grand Druidical Cromlech. It is usually in the south of 

 England a bush of about three feet in length, with a smooth and green stem, 

 separating at the joints when dead ; the leaves are thick and leathery ; the 

 small yellow flowers, which may be seen from March to May, grow in the 

 axils of the upper leaves, and are very thick and succulent. The berries ripen 

 in December, and the yellowish-green plant is then very conspicuous, for no 



