Meet me under the mistletoe. Now don't get any ideas! Yes, mistletoe has intrigued people for years. I remember as a small lad taking a shotgun and shooting the mistletoe out of trees in hopes that the succulent, evergreen plant would work its magic with some "kissing" adventures. As I look back on those years, I cannot help but chuckle with much laughter about that.
Recently, while driving down I-75, I asked my two sons, “What type of plant is that in the top of those trees.” Their reply was, “I don’t know.” After telling them the answer, they both wanted me to immediately stop the vehicle, get out, and climb the tree for a sprig of mistletoe. Why? It was the “kissing thing” again! I guess you could say that history does repeat itself.
Where have I seen the most mistletoe plants? The stretch of Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway, between Winchester and Clay City, has trees along the roadway that are absolutely covered with these parasitic plants. Also, in Frankfort, you can get a quick view off route 421 near Hardees'. In fact, it is in the same vicinity where I mentioned the Black Vultures in a recent blog. During this time of the year, look for the evergreen plants hanging in the branches.
There are so many songs with lyrics about mistletoe. Some songs that mention mistletoe include: “Blame it on the Mistletoe,” “It Must Have Been The Mistletoe,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas.” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," just to name a few. Why even Justin Bieber has a song out about Mistletoe. I guess there are a lot of people out there that believe in mistletoe powers. Go figure!
I also came across this article and wanted to share it with you. It was written in 2005 but has a lot of interesting information about “Mistletoe.” I think you too will find it useful as you learn more about this mysterious, kissing plant.
Before closing, I wish you and yours a splendid Holiday Season filled with much happiness. What are your waiting for? Now get out there and find a sprig of mistletoe, so you can secure your Holiday Kiss!
Mistletoe Man Tracks The Sprigs All Year Round by Beverly Fortune
Dec. 20, 2005 Knight Ridder Newspapers
BEREA, Ky. - Few folks even think about mistletoe until Christmas, when we buy a sprig to hang in a doorway so anyone who walks beneath gets a holiday kiss. But Ralph Thompson thinks about it all year.
Berea College biology professor Thompson has searched for mistletoe in all 120 Kentucky counties. He's found it growing in 119. It has eluded him in Grant County. "I've looked for it. I'm sure it's there," hompson said. "I just have never found it." "The further north you go, the less there is, because it freezes out in cold temperatures," Thompson said.
Mistletoe is a parasitic shrub that draws water and minerals from a tree, forms cankers and plugs up the water channels, causing dieback. "It can kill a tree," he said. "That's why I don't feel bad about people collecting it." Trained as a botanist, he has studied mistletoe distribution and its host trees for 15 years. Going county to county in Kentucky, Thompson collects specimens from each tree where he finds it. Each sprig and the twig on which it grows are mounted on paper, labeled and added to the Berea College Herbarium. Thompson's findings have been published in the Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science and will be included in an atlas of the flora of Kentucky being compiled by Julian Campbell, conservation scientist with The Nature Conservancy.
Thompson reaches the high-growing mistletoe by using a 40-foot fiberglass extension pole, but many people in rural areas often take a shotgun and shoot it out of trees. Mistletoe grows on ridge tops and open areas, most abundantly on black walnut, black cherry, American elm and black gum trees. It's spread by birds who eat the seeds, leave droppings on other trees or carry seeds stuck to their feet.
In three surveys, Thompson found 5,500 mistletoe-infested trees in Madison County, 3,500 in Rockcastle County and 1,740 in Garrard. The plant is easy to spot, even in downtown Lexington. Those bundles of tiny green leaves way up in the tops of old trees? That's mistletoe.
Several species of mistletoe grow in the United States, including American mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum), which can be found in Kentucky, Texas, through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, over to New Jersey and down through the Southeast. The white berries on the plant are poisonous.
Thompson's interest in mistletoe sprang from his mentor at Middle Tennessee State University, biology professor emeritus Tom Hemmerly, who did mistletoe research in Tennessee.
"In the winter there's not much to do, botanically," Thompson said. "So this is something I could do: travel the roads in my vehicle, collect mistletoe."
Rooted in mythology, revived by Victorians
The lore of mistletoe goes back to Celtic and Norse mythology. Celts believed mistletoe was a sacred plant that had healing powers and could ward off evil spirits, said Ralph Thompson, mistletoe expert at Berea College.
In Norse mythology, mistletoe is rooted in the myth of Balder, the god of the summer sun. Balder dreamed he was going to die. His mother, Frigga, became distraught when she heard this and asked the air, fire, water and all the plants and animals to spare her son. But Loki, the god of evil, found one plant Frigga had overlooked - mistletoe - because it grew neither in the ground nor underground. He made a poison arrow of mistletoe and tricked Balder's blind brother into shooting Balder. For three days the earth grew dark. It rained constantly. Frigga cried tears that turned into white berries on the mistletoe plant. When she kissed her dead son, her kiss reversed the mistletoe's poison, and he came back to life. She declared that anyone who walked under a tree where mistletoe grew should receive a kiss. Thus mistletoe became a symbol of love.
As Christianity spread in Europe, Celtic and Norse practices were condemned as pagan rituals, and banned. Not until Victorian times did kissing under the mistletoe gain acceptance again, and mistletoe became a symbol of romance and good luck.
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