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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



To' most dwellers in the South, the mistletoe is no rarity, 

 but to less accustomed e3^es, these more or less globular balls 

 of green among the leafless branches are likely to be of more 

 interest. Though we no longer hold the mistletoe in super- 

 stitious reverence as a protector from witches, ghosts and 

 demons, and have perhaps cause to doubt its efficacy in certain 

 amusements of the winter holidays, we may still find its curious 

 manner of growth suflicient warrant for more than a passing 

 interest in it. 



The common mistletoe, whether European or American, 

 is really a shrub, but it always grows as a parasite on some 

 other woody plant. In Europe it has been found on the walnut, 

 poplar, linden, elm, locust, willow, ash, thorn, pear, apple, 

 mountain ash, oak and almond, as well as upon various species 

 of conifers, and in one instance, at least, it has been found 

 parasitic upon another plant of its own kind. Our natiA'e plant 

 is nearly as catholic in its selection of hosts. Both species are 

 fond of trees with soft, sappy bark and thrive best on such 

 specimens. The seeds are covered with a soft and exceedingly 

 sticky pulp which causes them to adhere to the feet and bills of 

 birds that feed upon them and this substance also serves to at- 

 tach them to the branches of other trees in the proper position 

 for growth. The cotyledons contain chlorophyll and it is said 

 that the seed will not develop unless it is exposed to the light, 

 an apparent provision of nature to ensure that growth shall not 

 commence until the seed is advantageously situated. 



When the mistletoe begins to groAV it sends a suckerlike 

 root, called a ''sinker", into the soft tissues where wood and 

 bark meet in the body of its host and takes therefrom part of its 

 nourishment. The fact that its leaves are green shows that it 

 is not wholly dependent upon its host for food, but the green 

 is of a yellowish and sickly hue and of -itself proclaims the plant 

 to be a parasite. Since the trees parasitized by the mistletoe 

 annually add new layers of wood and bark to the trunk, in the 



