VISC: 



Cl)C CrcaSurg flf 3Batanii. 



1220 



series consists of species natives of Eu- 

 rope, Southern Asia, and Southern Africa. 

 The flowers are always unisexual, either 

 monoecious or dioecious. The male flowers 

 have a four-parted perianth, the lobes of 

 which are either deciduous or persistent , 

 the anthers are adherent to the segments 

 of the perianth, and open by a number of 

 pores, so that the surface of the anther 

 resembles a honeycomb. The female flow- 

 ers have a perianth like that of the male 

 flower, adherent to the ovary, which 

 latter is surmounted by a sessile stigma. 

 When the ovary is cut across, no cavity is 

 apparent, owing to the adhesion of the 

 inside of the ovary to the seed. Not un- 

 frequently two embryos are contained in 

 the same seed. 



V album, the Mistleto, is the only 

 species to which any considerable interest 

 attaches. It is a parasitical shrub, whose 

 root (or what corresponds to a root) is 

 firmly embedded in the substance of the 

 tree on which it grows. The stem, when 

 full-grown, attains the thickness of a 

 broomstick ; it repeatedly divides and 

 subdivides, in a regularly-forked manner, 

 each joint or articulation being marked 

 by a prominent ring. The leaves are op- 

 posite stalkless, oblong or somewhat lance- 

 shaped, leathery, and of a yellowish-green 

 colour The male flowers are in clusters 

 of four or Ave in the forks of the branch- 

 es ; the female flowers are sessile like the 

 males, and solitary or nearly so. The fruit 

 forms a small white berry 



The mode of attachment of the Mistleto 

 to the nourishing plant has been made the 

 subject of an elaborate paper by Dr John 

 Harley, in the Transaction* of the Linnivan 

 Society (xxiv. p. 175). The roots of the 

 mistleto come in contact especially with 

 the new wood inside the bark, where the 

 descending sap is richest and most abun- 

 dant, and are prolonged inwards in a di- 

 rection parallel to that of the medullary 

 rays. The cellular systems of the two plants 

 thus come into contact, but no direct com- 

 munication takes place between their ves- 

 sels. As growth goes on, and annual rings 

 of wood are added to the stock, similar 

 rings are formed in the mistleto, and so the 

 woody layers of the two plants become 

 coincident. The parasite slowly but surely 

 involves the destruction of the branch upon 

 which it is growing, by inducing an over- 

 flow of sap, and consequent exhaustion, 

 or by preventing the due flow of sap. In 

 either case it seals its own fate with that 

 of its supporter. The corroded and con- 

 torted appearance of old stumps killed by 

 the mistleto is very singular. 



The Mistleto may be made to grow on 

 the apple and other trees, by cutting a 

 notch in the bark on the under-surface of 

 a branch, and carefully inserting the seed 

 therein. Two precautions are especially 

 needed— one is to place the seed in such a 

 position that the embryo shall be directed 

 towards the trunk of the tree, and the 

 other is to avoid crushing the seed. The 

 apple is the tree on which the mistleto 

 grows most abundantly. The orchards in 



Herefordshire are greatly infested with 

 this parasite, which, however, has a value 

 of its own, for it appears that upwards of 

 one hundred tons of mistleto are annually 

 forwarded to London and other large towns 

 from that county alone, for Christmas 

 decorations. Some sorts of apples are pre- 

 ferred to others for its growth, and, singu- 

 larly enough, it is rarely if ever found on 

 the pear-tree. Next in frequency to the 

 apple the mistleto prefers the poplars, 

 though it is not found on the Lombardy 

 poplar. Hawthorns, limes, maples, and the 

 mountain-ash are all favourite habitats for 

 the plant. It has been found on the Cedar 

 of Lebanon and on the larch, but rarely 

 upon the oak. Dr. Bull, in a paper in the 

 Journal of Botany (ii. 273), only mentions 

 seven authentic instances of the growth of 

 mistleto on the oak in this country. 



Space will permit us only to allude to 

 the many mythological legends respecting 

 the mistleto and its use in Druidieal rites- 

 how it was cut with a golden sickle by a 

 priest in white robes, amid the sacrifice of 

 ■victims and the fasting of the devotees, 

 and how, once procured, the plant acted as 

 a heal-all, and a charm against disasters. 

 Balder, one of the heroes of Icelandic ro- 

 mance, is said to have met his death from a 

 dart of mistleto. According to the story, it 

 was prophesied that Balder would die, to 

 avert which fate his mother < xacted avow 

 from all things on earth that they would not 

 injure him. One of his enemies, knowing 

 that the mistleto had not taken the vow, 

 as it did not grow on the earth but on 

 trees, made a dart of its wood, and with it 

 killed the hero. The origin of the modern 

 custom connected with mistleto is not 

 very clear. Like many other customs, its 

 original significance is only guessed at. 

 If known, perhaps the innocent merriment 

 now associated with the plant would be 

 exchanged for a feeling of stern disap- 

 proval, and the mistleto would be banished 

 from our homes. In such a case, however, 

 ignorance is bliss. Mistleto-leaves are still 

 considered as tonics for animals, nut the 

 ancient medicinal reputation of the plant 

 Las not survived. [M. T. M.J 



The Mistleto is well-known, especially in 

 the orchards of cider-making counties, for 

 its winter dress of olive-green leaves and 

 shining white berries, so different fiom 

 the branches of the trees upon which 

 it fastens itself. The mistleto is remark- 

 able for the many species of trees upon 

 which it is found. It is occasionally seen 

 on the oak, but so rarely that with some 

 it has been doubted whether it occurs 

 upon this tree at all. We have seen two 

 examples— one at Eastnor Park, near Led- 

 bury, Herefordshire, the other at Pramp- 

 ton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire. The mag- 

 nificence of the oak on the one hand, and 

 the rarity of the mistleto upon it on the 

 other, are probable reasons for the greater 

 reverence paid to the parasite when 

 found on this tree. 



That Mistleto was a special object of wor- 

 ship with the ancient Britons, and that 

 many important rites were performed with 



