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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
I.—THE COMMON MISSELTOE. (Viscum album, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1470; 2nd ed., t. 1386. 
Specific Character. —Leaves obovate-lanceolate, obtuse. Stem forked, with sessile intermediate heads, of about five flowers. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This is a very curious parasitical plant, which grows upon various kinds of trees, but 
most commonly on the Apple. It is most rare upon the Oak ; and anciently it was highly valued when found 
upon that tree. The Druids used to perform divers ceremonies on the first day of every year, and to walk in 
solemn procession through their Oak groves till they found a tree bearing the Misseltoe, when the principal 
Druid, clad in a white garment, ascended the tree and cut the Misseltoe with a consecrated golden knife, which 
was never used for any other purpose. When the Misseltoe was cut, the other Druids held a white cloth to 
receive it; and it was afterwards distributed among the people as a preservative against witchcraft, and a cure 
for several diseases. When no Misseltoe could be found growing on an Oak, it was considered a sign of some 
dreadful national calamity ; but the Druids appear to have taken every precaution against this disaster, as we 
always find that an Apple orchard was planted close to the sacred Oak groves of the Druids ; and as it is well 
known that the Misseltoe grows more freely on the Apple than on any other plant, it was very easy to obtain 
the Misseltoe and to make it appear to be growing on the Oak when it did not do so naturally. The Misseltoe 
was dedicated to the Saxon goddess Friga, who was the same as Venus; and hence, it is supposed, arose the 
custom of kissing under the Misseltoe at Christmas. This custom is of great antiquity ; and in the feudal ages 
the Misseltoe was gathered with great solemnity on the evening before the Christmas-day, and hung up in the 
baron’s hall, with loud shouts and rejoicings :— 
“ On Christmas Eve the bells were rung ; 
On Christmas Eve the mass was sung : 
That only night in all the year 
Saw the staled priest the chalice rear. 
The damsel donned her kirtle sheen ; 
The hall was dressed with holly green : 
Forth to the woods did merry men go, 
To gather in the Misseltoe. 
Then opened wide the baron’s hall 
To vassal, tenant, serf, and all.”— Scott. 
It was formerly supposed that the Misseltoe would only grow naturally, and that it could not be cultivated 
or have its berries sown. It is now found, however, that it may be made to grow on an Apple-tree, and 
probably on trees of other kinds, by pressing a ripe berry on a crack in the bark, and then tying paper loosely 
over it, so as to preserve it from the birds, and yet to admit air to it. In the year 1836, several experiments 
were tried to make the Misseltoe grow on trees of different kinds in our little garden at Bayswater. The first 
that germinated was on a Cherry-tree, and the second on a Thorn; but both soon withered. Shortly after, 
three of the berries that had been sown on Apple-trees began to grow, and these are still (1845) alive; one of 
them having become a large plant. When the seed of the Misseltoe begins to grow it sends out a young root, 
which at first grows out horizontally from the tree; but in a few days it bends over till it reaches the bark, 
which it strikes into, and thus presents a singular appearance, looking like a little green arch, both ends of which 
are inserted in the bark. The point of the root which touches the bark is swelled out like the sucker of a 
house-fly. The arch remains sometimes two or three months without much apparent change; but at last, that 
