Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for a group of hemi-parasitic plants in the order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub. There were clumps of mistletoe in many of the trees we saw along the French roads.

Mistletoe species grow on a wide range of host trees, and commonly reduce their growth but can kill them with heavy infestation. Viscum album can parasitise more than 200 tree and shrub species. Almost all mistletoes are hemi-parasites, bearing evergreen leaves that do some photosynthesis, and using the host mainly for water and mineral nutrients.

Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush in Europe.The seeds are coated with a sticky material called viscin which hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host.