LORANTHACEiE. 189 



GENUS I.—V I S C U M. Linn. 



Flowers unisexual, dioecious. Male flowers : calyx obsolete ; 

 corolla of 4 fleshy petals united at the base ; anthers 4, adnate to 

 the petals, opening by numerous pores ; ovary rudimentary or 

 none. Female flowers : calyx-tube adnate to the ovary ; calyx- 

 limb obsolete ; petals 4, inserted on the summit of the calyx ; 

 stamens absent ; ovary inferior ; stigma sessile. Berry pulpy, 

 1-seeded. 



Parasitical shrubs, growing on the branches of trees. 



The name of this genus of plants comes from the Greek word fiwKog (biskos), 

 tenacious, from the adhesive properties of the berries of the species. 



SPECIES I.— VIS CUM ALBUM. Linn. 

 Plate DCXXXV*. 

 Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 566. 



Stem repeatedly dichotomous, terete. Leaves opposite, oblan- 

 ceolate, coriaceous-fleshy, without evident nerves. Flowers in 

 clusters of about 3 together in the upper forks of the branches and 

 axils of the leaves. 



Parasitic on the branches of various trees, — especially on 

 apple, poplar, hawthorn, lime, and maple. 



Not uncommon in the South and West of England, rare in the 

 North ; not native in Scotland. 



England, [Scotland.] Shrub. Spring. 



A glabrous evergreen shrub, much branched, the branches 

 round, regularly dichotomous, enlarged and readily breaking at the 

 nodes, with thick leathery dim-green bark. Leaves oblong-oblan- 

 ceolate or -obovate, rounded at the apex, very thick, at first yellow- 

 green, but turning dark-green when mature, when they are 1£ to 

 2^ inches long, opposite (rarely in whorls of 3), sessile, with a 

 horseshoe-shaped elevation at the base on the upper surface, with 

 about 5 very indistinct ribs, sprinkled with very minute glandular 

 dots. Flowers greenish, usually 3 together, in sessile clusters in 

 the terminal forks of the branches and axils of the leaves, seated on 

 a 4-sided short dilated peduncle, larger below the female than below 

 tbe male flowers ; each flower with 2 fleshy bracts at the base. Berry 

 about the size of a pea, white, with viscid pulp and a green com- 

 pressed seed. Female plant more luxuriant than the male. 



Interesting accounts of the parasitism of the Mistletoe will be 

 found in a paper by Dr. Harley, in Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XXIV. 



