By K. Bagby,
VCE Southside Master Gardener and Southern Piedmont Master
Naturalist
Oh, by gosh, by golly, it’s time for mistletoe and holly,” sings
Frank Sinatra in the Christmas classic. As winter comes and the leaves are off
the hardwood trees, the mistletoe’s revealed, fresh greenery and pearly berries
amongst all the brown.
Mistletoe is a traditional holiday plant. Be careful because it can be toxic if ingested by pets or humans. Still it makes a beautiful additional to holiday décor.
Cultural traditions around mistletoe go back well over a
thousand years, when it was a Druidic symbol of healing, fertility, and the
deep connection the ancient Celts had with nature. In the Middle Ages “kissing
balls” made of mistletoe, holly, and boxwood were hung in doorways to bestow
goodwill and blessings to all who passed beneath. (And, some say, to encourage
romance!) By the early 1800s or so Victorians used live greenery indoors for
Christmas decorations, and the traditional kiss under the mistletoe lives on
today.
One of our more contemporary traditions involving mistletoe
is mistletoe hunting. Mistletoe seeds are spread by birds. The sticky seeds
survive being eaten and stick to the high branches of hardwood trees where
birds perch and the seeds take root
there. Since the highest branches of the trees aren’t suitable for climbing,
some people shoot the mistletoe clusters out of the trees instead. A shotgun
works but tends to shred up the target. A .22 brings a cleaner specimen down,
but you have to be a pretty good shot. Or persistent, anyway.
There are three families of mistletoes with over 1,300
species. Our local mistletoe is Phoradendron leucarpum, of the Santalaceae
family, and it’s native to Virginia. That sticky seed up on a tree branch, one seed
per berry, sprouts and sends a structure called a haustorium into the tree. Mistletoes
are hemiparasites, which means they produce their own chlorophyll but depend on
the host plant for nutrients and water. The haustorium is the “straw” they use
to do it. A healthy tree can tolerate a few mistletoe infestations, but too
many can be a problem. Infected branches can sometimes be pruned away, but
remember the haustorium—it extends deeply into the tree, so be sure to prune
the branch off at least six inches or so below the mistletoe attachment point.
Mistletoe can be found at the tops of hardwood trees,
particularly oaks, though in my neighborhood it seems to prefer hickories. If
you harvest your own mistletoe for the holidays, the first thing to keep in
mind is that the plant’s poisonous to humans, pets, and horses, though you’d
have to ingest quite a bit for it to be fatal. The sprigs keep well in the
refrigerator and can last longer as decorations if you mist them from time to
time. Trim the sprigs of mistletoe to the size you’d like and then wrap the
stems in florist’s tape, add some ribbon or small decorations, and hang your
new ornament where it’s most likely to be effective in blessing those who pass
beneath!
Many thanks to our Virginia Cooperative Extension Southside
Master Gardeners and Virginia Master Naturalist Southern Piedmont Chapter, and
to all the people who give their time to serve out communities. Many, many more
thanks to our late mentor and friend, Bill McCaleb.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension Halifax Office is open from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have gardening questions, you can reach
an extension master gardener or extension staff member by sending an email to
ask@ssmga.org or by calling the Halifax Extension Master Gardener Help Desk at
434-830-3383. Be sure to give us your first and last name, telephone number and
the nature of the call. The help desk phone is routinely checked Monday-Friday.
Someone will get back to you, although it may be from a different telephone
number.
Happy gardening! Remember to leave the leaves and plant
debris for the insects to overwinter in. They’ll appreciate it!
