^ THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
171 
I consider this to arise partly from the Romans having destroyed 
all the Druidical mistletoe, for it is most remarkable that though 
so many old oaks are recorded as existing in this country, 
perhaps upwards of 1000 years old, yet not one has mistletoe 
upon them. Even the Rev. W. Davies, in his Elora of Anglesea, 
once the headquarters of Druidism, is unable to mention a single 
locality where the mistletoe now grows there. Some years ago 
I had a long ramble in Surrey after the mistletoe of the oak. 
Being in London, an enthusiastic friend came to me one day and 
said, exultingly, that he had just heard that the mistletoe had 
been seen on an oak at Bookham Common, and that in the 
woods of Surrey it was not uncommon. The next morning we 
started over bush, brake, and scaur; but deluged with rain after 
many efforts, drew only a blank day; and we learned afterwards, 
to our great mortification, that my friend's informant had meant 
ivy when he said mistletoe !* 
“The mistletoe in the oak/’ writes an energetic searcher for it 
in Monmouthshire, as quoted by Dr. Bull, “is like a ghost; it 
vanishes into thin air when you try to grasp it; everybody has 
seen it long ago, but the tree is always cut down, or somehow or 
other, the result is nil” Most woodwards will tell you, and 
in good faith too, that they have seen it, and, indeed, will 
generally mention the exact tree and place where it grows, but the 
results of their further examination has always been the same— 
for some cause or other the instance fails, and the mistletoe can 
never be shown on the oak. The tree has been felled, or blown 
down, or it may be the isolated branch of wild ivy or honey¬ 
suckle, or a cluster of small oak branches has deceived 
them.* 
We may take it for granted then that the mistletoe on the oak is 
a matter of comparatively rare occurrence at the present time, and 
it is doubtful whether in the Celtic period it was more prevalent. 
This very scarcity has been thought by some to be the reason 
why mistletoe-on-the-oak was so much venerated by the Druids, 
but we must remember that so little was known about trees at 
this early period, that by hook or by crook, or may be the inter¬ 
vention of a miracle, enough would doubtless be found for the 
market. 
We come now to note upon the different trees on which the 
parasite has been found. 
The following lists are quoted from Mr. Lees’ 1 Botanical 
Looker Out,’ and refer principally to the County of Worcester: 
we have put his initials to these. The additions to the text are 
by us, and for the most part contain Gloucestershire additions. 
* ‘ Botanical Looker Out,’ p. 51. 
f £ Journal of Botany/ vol. ii, p. 373. 
