438 



FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



memento of the Passion, with the symbol of the 

 wounds on the leaves, and the crown of thorns in 

 its spiny fruits. 



Of other customs which remain as simple cere- 

 monies, with little meaning, it may safely be predi- 

 cated that they had in past times a mystic association, 

 now forgotten. The use of holly, ivy, and mistletoe, 

 as Christmas decorations, are 

 of this kind, in the latter case 

 with a date anterior to the 

 introduction of Christianity. 

 Whatever may be its position 

 now, the mistletoe was in for- 

 mer times a mystic plant ; 

 and, as Schouw says, "It is 

 not a matter of surprise that 

 a plant of such peculiar 

 aspect, and which occurs in 

 such a remarkable position 

 as the mistletoe, should have 

 awakened the attention of 

 various races, and exerted 

 influence over their religious ideas. It played an 

 especially important part among the Gauls. The 

 oak was sacred with them ; their priests abode in oak 

 forests ; oak boughs and oak leaves were used in 

 every religious ceremony, and their sacrifices were 

 made beneath an oak tree ; but the mistletoe, when 



Fig. 90. — Mistletoe 

 {Viscum album). 



