Mistletoe - fact, history and myth

Mistletoe is as traditional at Christmas as the humble Christmas Tree, but unlike the relatively tame history of the good old tree, mistletoe has a rich mythical past conjuring up images of Druid rituals, passion and fertility.

First of all, mistletoe, of which there are 1400 species and sub species, is partly parasitic and lives on a host tree such as apple, pear or poplar. Having green leaves itself and able to photosynthesise, the plant is a hemi-parasites but do utilise their hosts too.

The mistletoe plant is attached via a gall called a haustorium - Just some of the information I learned from Jonathan Briggs.

Jonathan Briggs is a Mistletoe expert who has created an extensive and resourceful website (actually two but he is in the process of moving from the old site )

Jonathan also keeps a mistletoe blog which he keeps bang up to date on all the latest information, including his recent visit to the worlds only mistletoe festival at Tenbury Wells.

Jonathan also takes a little swipe at the RHS information pages on mistletoe and calls them 'naive and inaccurate' for their advice on growing mistletoe.

Jonathan, who has worked with parasitic plants for the last twenty five years and was responsible for founding, co-ordinating and analysing data for the Plantlife/BSBI National Mistletoe Survey in 1993-96, has set up Mistletoe Matters consultancy for advising on mistletoe as well as a consultancy on Canal Ecology; his other passion.

For advice on where to buy British mistletoe.