HOLLY AND MISTLETOE 217 



tight case and protects them from heat, cold, 

 and wet. 



Beauty is not the only excuse which the holly 

 has for being. The berries hang on the trees 

 well into the winter and furnish supplies for 

 hosts of birds. The wood is a favorite with 

 cabinet makers. It is hard, fine-grained, and 

 alniost white. It is fashioned into work 

 tables, fancy boxes, and all kinds of dainty 

 articles. 



The mistletoei, perhaps, has no real place in a 

 book about trees, for it is a parasitical plant or 

 vine. But it is inseparably linked with the 

 holly, and so beautiful that we overlook its real 

 character. The. name mistletoe is derived from 

 the Greek, and means "tree thief." But the 

 mistletoe is not a ruthless robber. It steals 

 only crude sap, by means of the naustoria, or 

 suckers, which serve it instead of roots. It has 

 its own working outfit or chlorophyll, though the 

 leaf is rather dingy, and shows quite plainly 

 that it is averse to carrying on the busy labora- 

 tory methods of most leaves. The mistletoe is 

 common throughout the South and westward on 

 the oak, the elm, the red maple, and occasionally 

 on the apple and the walnut. It has a pearly 

 white berry, which blends nicely with the red 

 of the hoUy. 



