MISTLETOE (Anglo-Sax. mistettan, Ger. millet,- the Nil of the Anglo-Saxon name means a tine or prong. a shoot of a tree; mistel is of uncertain etymology, but probably the same, in meaning at least, as the Latin rtscus), a genus (thrum) of small parasitical shrubs of the natural order loranthacece. This order is erogenous, and contains more than 400 known species, mostly tropical and parasites. The leaves are entire, almost nerveless, thick and fleshy, and without stipules. The flowers of many species are showy. The calyx arises from a tube or rim, which sometirnes assumes the appearance of a calyx, and is so regarded by many botanists; what others deem the colored calyx being viewed by them as a corolla of four or eight petals or segments. Within this are the stamens, as numerous as its divisions, and opposite to them. The ovary is one celled, with a solitary ovule; the fruit one-seeded, generally succulent.—The only British species of this order is the COMMON MISTLETOE (V: album), a native also of the greater part of Europe, growing on many kinds of trees, particularly on the apple, and others botanically allied to it, as the pear, service, and hawthorn; sometimes, also, on syca mores, limes, poplars., locust trees, and I'm, but very rarely on oaks (contrary to the common belief). is very plentiful in some parts of the south of England, its evergreen leaves giving a peculiar appearance to the orchards in winter, when the bushes of mistle toe are very conspicuous among the naked branches of the trees; but it is very local. It is not a native of Scotland, though found naturalized in various places. The stems are dichotomous (i.e., divide by forking); the leaves are opposite, of a yellowish-green color,
obovate-lanceolate, obtuse. The Stowers are inconspicuous, and grow in small heads at the ends and in the divisions of the branches, the male and female flowers on separate plants. The berries are about the size of currants, white, translucent, and full of a very viscid juice, which serves to attach the seeds to branches, where they take root when they germinate, the radiele.always turning toward the branch, whether on its upper or under side. The mistletoe derives its nourishment from the living tissue of the tree on which it grows, and from which it seems to spring as if it were one of its own branches. The berries are a favorite food of thrushes. Bird-lime is made from them and from the bark. The mistletoe was intimately connected with many of the superstitions of the ancient Germans and of the British Druids. In the northern mythology, Balder is said to have been slain with a spear of mistletoe. Among the Celts the mistletoe which grew on'tbe oak was in peculiar esteem for magical virtues. Traces of the ancient regard for the mistletoe still remain in some old English and German customs, as kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas. The mistletoe was at one time in high repute as a remedy for epilepsy and convulsions, but it seems to possess no decided medicinal properties.— Loranaus Europaus, a shrub very similar to the mistletoe, but with flowers in racemes, is plentiful in some parts of the south of Europe, and very frequently grows on oaks.— L. odoratus, a Nepaulese species, has very fragrant flowers.