THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



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ordinary course of events the parasite would soon be covered 

 by the increasing bulk of the tree. The mistletoe, however, is 

 too adroit to be so easily overcome and just as the encroaching 

 wood threatens to bury it, side roots are sent out which pene- 

 trate the bark lengthwise of the stem and these send out new 

 "sinkers." This process is repeated annually during the life 

 of the plant. 



The beliefs which were once associated with the mistletoe 

 originated long before the dawn of history. The plant held a 

 prominent place in the Druid rites and was gathered for their 

 winter festivals by a white robed priest who cut it with a 

 golden knife. It was received in a white cloth; to let it touch 

 the ground being counted disastrous. When the priest had 

 given it to the people it was hung up over doors and in other 

 places about the house to keep off evil. From its connection 

 with such heathen rites, its use was long forbidden by the 

 Church. In Xorse mythology, the blind Hodur is fabled to 

 have killed that darling of the gods, Baldur, with a spear 

 tipped with mistletoe, it having been decreed at his birth that 

 nothing that grew on the earth should harm him. The other 

 gods combined to bring Baldur to life and the mistletoe was 

 ordered never to work harm again, to which it agreed, pro- 

 vided it was not allowed to touch the earth. Thus we still 

 hang sprays of the plant high at Christmas time as an emblem 

 of peace and good will. 



Our mistletoe is one of some four hundred species of the 

 Loranthaceae most of which are found in the warmer parts of 

 the world. The flowers of our plant are small and insignifi- 

 cant, but several tropical species are more fortunate in this 

 respect, having brightly colored blossoms which are often six 

 inches or more across. The European mistletoe is known to 

 science as Visciiui album, while the American plant is Phoro- 

 dendroni flavescens. All the beliefs and customs which are 

 connected with the mistletoe by right belong to the European 



