MR. H. D. GELDA.RT ON THE MISTLETOE. 
455 
begins to increase by another mode of reproduction. This is 
effected by means of rhizomes exactly corresponding to the under- 
ground stems of terrestrial plants. To this rhizomatous repro- 
duction is mainly due the abundance of Mistletoe on trees upon 
which it has once established itself. 
“A transverse section of Mistletoe on a branch usually shows 
a central root and one or more side roots, all of which are generally 
directed towards the central pith ; while the root is thus advancing 
towards the pith, the Mistletoe expands laterally in the liher of the 
branch. This lateral expansion causes a sort of conn or crown 
of the root to appear which continues to expand in all directions, 
following the curvature of the branch. This lateral expansion, in 
some cases, goes on till the branch is almost entirely surrounded 
by a ring of Mistletoe with its roots converging towards the centre, 
like so many spokes of a wheel. Thus the Mistletoe carries its 
own death with it, for by living it deprives itself of the means 
by which it lives.” 
So close and complete is the union between the Mistletoe and 
its host, the robber and the robbed, that l)e Candolle found that 
when he immersed an Apple branch bearing Mistletoe in water 
coloured with Cochineal, which penetrating the wood and inner 
bark of the Apple-tree entered into the Mistletoe, its colour was 
even more intense in the latter than in the former ; a fact which 
will be readily believed by any one who has ever tried to dye 
a section of Mistletoe, for it sucks up the stain more readily than 
any other wood I have ever stained, and I have tried not a few. 
The peculiar virtues ascribed to the Mistletoe when grown on 
Oak are, in Pliny’s words, that “ it would give fruitfulness to all 
barren animals, and would act as a remedy against all poisons.” 
Mrs. Laukester quotes a letter from * Notes and Queries,’ from 
the Countess of Dauby to her “ Cozen,” date between 1663 and 
1682, begging for a piece of the “Mistletoe of yo r father’s Oke.” 
That it does sometimes grow on the Oak there can be no 
doubt, as Messrs. Purchas and Ley mention five Oak trees in 
Herefordshire alone, and give particulars of each locality. The 
Kev. Kirby Trimmer, in his * Flora of Norfolk,’ has three records, 
the first on Oak at Shotteshain (Mr. Bransbv Francis); this, 
knowing the recorder well, I accept with confidence. Of the 
other two at Aldeby and Woodbastwick, not knowing the recorder, 
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