"ICICLES HANG BY THE WALL" 263 



year. The ceremony of kissing is not properly per- 

 formed unless a berry is plucked off and given with 

 each kiss to the maiden. When the berries are all 

 gone the privilege of kissing ceases. 



That mistletoe grows on the oak-tree solely is a 

 popular error. In fact, the plant prefers the apple. 

 Most of the English mistletoe now comes from the 

 apple orchards of Herefordshire. Normandy sends 

 a great deal of mistletoe to England and to our 

 country. The strange parasite is also found on the 

 linden, poplar, and white-thorn. When once the 

 seed is lodged, it drives its roots deep into the branch 

 and draws sap and nourishment from the tree. The 

 European variety is known as Viscum album and is 

 much forked. In the United States the ordinary 

 mistletoe is known as Phoradendron and grows on 

 various hardwood trees in many of the Southern 

 States. 



There is something curiously interesting about 

 the mistletoe. It is not beautiful, the leaves are 

 irregular and often stained and broken, the berries 

 fall almost when looked at and the plant is stiff and 

 woody; yet for all that there is a peculiar quality 

 in the greenish white and waxy berries and the shape 

 of the forked twig that makes us think of divining- 

 rods and magical words. It has a mystic fascination 



