Mistletoe

A positive symbol

Viscum album is a low growing evergreen shrub that is a half parasite that grows on poplars, apple, lime, Robinia and, sometimes, the common hawthorn. The berries are shiny, yellowish-white with a tough, slimy flesh. The seeds are poisonous but not for the mistle thrush, which aids seed dispersal. The sticky seeds germinate on the tree trunk.

In the Middle Ages the berries were cooked to make a ‘mistletoe glue’, which was then smeared onto a special stick that was used to catch birds. Under a bunch of hanging mistletoe is traditionally the place to steal a kiss.

Thrushes mainly eat the berries. They then ensure the dispersal of the plant either through expelling the undigested seeds or spilling them whilst feeding on the berries. In the Netherlands mistletoe is locally common to South Limburg elsewhere it is very rare although recently it is on the rise again.

Ecology and habitat

The mistletoe grows in sunny places in deciduous trees on calcareous sand- and marl soils, on the edge of woods and on solitary trees. Zuid-Limburg falls within the uninterrupted European part of its natural distribution range. The berries are eaten mainly by thrushes. These birds ensure that the seeds are distributed when the seeds pass through the gut without being digested or during spilling their meal, they rub the seeds on the branches.

Threat

In the Netherlands Viscum album is legally protected. In Zuid-Limburg the species is locally common, elsewhere in the Netherlands it is very rare. It is harvested for Christmas decorations and flower arrangements. Recently it hasn’t undergone any significant decline, may be even a slight increase.