Mistletoe: A Field Guide

Mistletoe has a pagan mystique that has made it unwelcome in churches but popular at parties. Long considered an aphrodisiac (though the berries are toxic), the kissing bunch predates by millennia the Victorians and their rituals.

A parasite, European mistletoe grows wild on trees where birds deposit its sticky seeds. It is a slow grower; Viscum album takes four years to form its first berries. Eventually it grows into a large green-leafed globe and can be harvested to bring indoors for holiday decor. In the US, a more common type is Phoradendron leucarpum, with bigger clusters of berries.