Mistletoe

The word "mistletoe" is found in several Slavic languages, but its origin is unclear ^[5] .

The branches are 15–80 cm long. The leaves are opposite or whorled, take part in photosynthesis , in some species - minimal. Water and minerals mistletoe consumes from the host plant. Mistletoe species differ in their preferred host plant species. Most are capable of growing on several different types of host plant. Flowers with a diameter of 1-3 mm, barely noticeable, greenish-yellow. The fruit is a false berry , white, yellow, orange or red, in the sticky flesh of which there is one or several seeds.

There are about 70 species, mainly in subtropical and tropical Africa , in tropical Asia , in northern Australia .

It is distributed in the southwestern part of the forest zone , in the western forest-steppe of the European part of the former USSR , in the Caucasus , in the Crimea , the Baltic States , and is also found in Primorsky Krai , Kaliningrad , Leningrad and Belgorod regions of Russia.

Birds take part in spreading mistletoe, mainly thrushes . Eating its berries, they stain their beak with a sticky berry mass, the so-called viscine , which contains mistletoe seeds . Then, flying from tree to tree and clearing the beak of the branches, they are stained with this sticky substance, and they also emit seeds with feces. Viscine on the branches dries, sticking to them the seeds, which after some time begin to germinate.

At first, his subfamily knee is drawn out, which is bent to the branch and is applied by the root tip to its surface; At this time, the root tip expands into a circle, with which the young seedlings are attached to the tree. After that, a small rod-like process leaves the center of the circle, which pierces the bark of the branch and, through its cambium, grows to wood. This process serves as the main or primary sucker; with the help of his mistletoe pulls out water and minerals from the plant. As soon as the sucker grows to the wood, its apical growth stops, but as the wood grows, it continues to be stretched in length with the help of inserted growth, concentrated in that part of the sucker, which is located in the cambium of the branch. The wood of the branch overgrows the sucker, so that as a result it is embedded in the wood. Then, by the number of layers pierced by the suction cup, one can judge its age.

From the base of the main sucker, in all directions along the bark of the branch, the root-shaped strands of green color and without a cap on the tip go away - the so-called rhizoids. From them in a radial direction the rod-shaped processes - secondary suckers depart to the wood. The latter grow and are surrounded by wood like a main suction cup. They appear at the end of the rhizoid one by one annually. Having formed a single sucker, the rhizoid grows further and forms a new sucker, etc. On the rhizoids, adventitious buds sometimes occur, which, growing, give rise to new air mistletoe shoots. These shoots , piercing the bark of the branch, go outside. The wood overgrown with mistletoe suckers forms a specific growth on a branch, pierced with a multitude of channels and holes from the strands of the parasite ^[6] .

† Viscum morlotii from the Early Miocene, was described from fossil leaves found in the Cristina mine in Hradek nad Nisou in Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. ^[7]

The genus is more than 70 species ^[8] , some of them are:

• Viscum album L. typus ^[4] - Mistletoe
• Viscum articulatum Burm.f.
• Viscum coloratum ( Kom. ) Nakai - Mistletoe colored
• Viscum cruciatum Sieber ex Boiss.
• Viscum diospyrosicola hayata
• Viscum fargesii Lecomte
• Viscum liquidambaricola hayata
• Viscum loranthi elmer
• Viscum minimum Harv.
• Viscum monoicum Roxb. ex DC.
• Viscum multinerve (Hayata) Hayata
• Viscum nudum danser
• Viscum triflorum DC.
• Viscum yunnanense HSKiu

Mistletoe fruits can be used to make bird's glue , which is used to catch small birds.

Extract from young leaves of some species can be used for medical purposes for the treatment of early stages of hypertension .

Many nations have many signs of mistletoe and superstition . Since antiquity, mistletoe has been a symbol of life and a protective talisman . The Romans believed that mistletoe contributed to conception if a woman carried her with her. The Druids , considering the properties of mistletoe to be miraculous, cut it with a golden sickle at an astronomically calculated time on the right tree, bringing together people who underwent cleansing procedures and performed ritual dances. According to Pliny the Elder , mistletoe thus mined was considered a good remedy for epilepsy ; she helped women — if they carried the plant with them — to get pregnant; she healed the ulcer, it was enough for the patient to chew a piece of the plant, and attach another piece to the sore spot. In addition, according to Pliny, like vinegar and eggs, mistletoe was considered an excellent means of extinguishing the fire ^[9] .

The famous physician and alchemist of the Renaissance Paracelsus collected mistletoe grown on hanging turtles .

Mistletoe was a symbol of peace in Scandinavia . She decorated the house outside as a sign that the traveler will be given shelter here. If the enemy happened to meet under the tree on which the mistletoe grew, they were obliged to lay down their arms and on this day no longer fight. Later, this custom found a display in Western Christmas traditions, when it is believed that at Christmas two people, meeting under the mistletoe branch, are obliged to kiss.

On the other hand, according to the pagan legends of the ancient Germans, it was a branch of mistletoe that treacherous Loki killed the god of spring and light Baldur , putting a mistletoe dart into the hands of blind Hyud , when the gods amused themselves by shooting, aiming at the now invulnerable Baldr.

Mistletoe served as the main Christmas decoration in England, before the Christmas tree spread in the second half of the XIX century.

The English custom of kissing for Christmas under the branch of mistletoe may be an echo of the ancient Roman Saturnalia on the day of the winter solstice : on this day it was allowed to kiss even strangers.

Mistletoe was also considered a thunderstorm plant, therefore its presence in the house was intended to protect it from thunder and lightning, as well as from witches and evil spirits. The most valuable property of the plant in the people was considered protection from magic and witchcraft.

• Mistletoe // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Mistletoe / aut.-status. V.E. Bagdasaryan, I.B. Orlov, V.L. Telitsin; under total ed. V.L. Telitsyna // Symbols, signs, emblems: Encyclopedia. - M .: Lokid-Press, 2005.