Shrub. — Flowers in April and May. 
Root woody, thick, incorporated deeply with the wood of the tree 
on which it grows. Stem bushy, about a foot or 18 inches high, 
very much branched, repeatedly forked (dichotomous), jointed, 
round, smooth, and even, of a pale yellowish-green colour. Leaves 
nearly the same colour as the stem, opposite, tongue-shaped, from an 
inch and a half to 2 } inches long, very entire, with parallel ribs, 
smooth, rigid, almost woody, evergreen. Flowers yellowish-green, 
in small, axillary heads, about 3 or 5 in each head. Berries globu- 
lar, the size of a currant, white, pellucid, sweet, very glutinous in- 
ternally. Seed with from 1 to 3 Embryos j\ 
Some curious experiments are recorded by M. Richard, in his Elements of 
Botany, as having 1 en made on the germination of the seed of the Misseltoe. 
I am indebted to M. Parigot, B. A. of the University of Ghent, for the follow- 
ing observations, which are extracted chiefly from the above-named work. “ In 
opposition to the law of the tendency of roots towards the earth’s centre, the 
Misseltoe, in common with some other parasitic plants, shoots out its radicle in 
whatever position chance places it. Thus, when the seed, which is enveloped 
with a thick and clammy gluten, happens to fix itself (or, as is often the case, is 
placed by the Missel Thrush, Turdus viscivorus of Linn., in the act of clean- 
ing its bill from the glutinous seed) on the under part of a branch, the radicle, 
which is a kind of tubercle hollowed out like a French-horn, directs itself up- 
wards. In short, iu whatever position the seed may be fixed to the branch, the 
radicle always directs itself perpendicularly to the axis of the branch. The radi- 
cle presents also another unvarying tendency, which is, that of avoiding the 
light. Experiments have been made by M. Dutrochet, in which this seed, 
which finds its first nutriment in the gluten that envelopes it, was made to ger- 
minate on the two sides of the panes of a window, in both cases the radicles 
directed themselves towards the interior of the room, as if in quest of darkness J.” 
No art has yet made this plant take root in the earth ; but if the berries, when 
fully ripe, are rubbed on the smooth bark of almost any tree, but especially the 
Apple or the Crab, they will adhere closely, and produce plants the following 
Winter. Several plants, in different stages of growth, all of which have been 
produced by this method, are now growing on Apple trees in the Oxford Bo- 
tanic Garden. 
The berries, when boiled with a small portion of vegetable oil, serve to make 
the best birdlime. It was formerly in great repute as a remedy for epileptic and 
other complaints, but it is now disregarded. It was one of those plants which 
was held sacred by the Druids, who ordained that it should be cut with a golden 
knife, and only by the Priest, who was to be clothed in white, and the plant 
received on a white napkin, when the moon was six days old. This ceremony 
was accompanied by the sacrifice of two white bulls. Thus consecrated, Missel- 
toe was considered an antidote to poisons, and a preventative of all the various 
ills of Pandora’s box. — In the Christmas ceremony of the bush may be yet re- 
cognized a slight vestige of the importance once attached to this peculiar shrub. 
'The Lora'ntheje are dicotyledonous, parasitical herbaceous plants, with op- 
posite, veinless, fleshy Leaves without stipul*. The Flowers are often monoe- 
cious. (sometimes dioecious, ) axillary or terminal, solitary, corymbose, orspiked. 
The Calyx is superior, with 2 bracteae at the base. The Corolla is composed of 
from 4 to 8 Petals, which are more or less united at the base. The Stamens are 
of the same number as the petals, and opposite to them. The Ovary is 1 -celled ; 
the Ovule pendulous; the Style 1, or none ; the Stigma simple. The Fruit is 
succulent, and 1 -celled ; the Seed is solitary and pendulous; the Testa mem- 
branous; the Embryo cylindrical, longer than the fleshy Albumen ; and the 
Radicle is naked, club shaped, and superior. — Lindley and Richard. 
T Out of nine seeds which I rubbed on the smooth bark of an Apple-tree in the 
Botanic Garden, this Spring (1833), and left there to germinate; two produced 
only one radicle each ; six produced two radicles each ; and one produced three. 
It appears, from this experiment, that two is the most common number of radi- 
cles produced by each seed of this curious plant. — See figs. 4 & 6. 
t This experiment was verified last year (1833) in several seeds which were 
let to vegetate on the panes of my window in the Botanic Garden. W. B. 1834. 
