Under the Mistletoe or “Witches’ Broom”?
During the holiday season you can find mistletoe dangling from doorways or hanging above hopeful hosts. For every berry on your mistletoe bunch, the tradition goes, you’ll receive a kiss! As the leaves return to the hardwood trees in spring and summer, they conceal bunches of green, woody stems growing on the highest branches.
Mistletoe is a parasite that draws nutrients from the tree on which it grows, but also takes advantage of its treetop position to soak up sunlight for its own photosynthesis. Birds eat the mistletoe’s white berries and spread the sticky seeds to other trees, where the seeds latch on and produce new plants. As mistletoe matures, it grows into thick, often rounded masses that look like baskets, sometimes called “witches’ brooms”. These masses can grow to 5 feet wide and up to 50 pounds. The berries, delicious to birds and the lifeline for the plant, are poisonous when eaten by humans. A variety of birds nest directly in witches’ brooms, including house wrens, chickadees and mourning doves.
Fetching these popular holiday berries for your doorway is not always so easy. Since the plant grows in precarious locations, the traditional way of retrieving mistletoe involves shooting it down. Even if your shot is lucky enough to break it free, the sprigs often lose their berries as they fall to the ground.
You are sure to notice this festive plant while traveling the highways or celebrating the holidays with friends!
Sources:
https://www.learnreligions.com/fun-facts-about-mistletoe-1203689