Mistletoe

Botanical Name: Viscum album

Family: Loranthaceae

Other Names: Bird lime, devil’s hue, golden bough, herbe de la croix, lignum cruces, mystyldene, thinderbesem, witches broom, wood across the cross, wood of druids herb

Habitat: On deciduous trees especially apple and poplars

Description: Semi-parasitic evergreen woody, parasitic on trees Stem: green/brown, branched Leaves: opposite, ovate, leathery, yellow/green, 4-10cm long  Flowers: small, yellow March – April Fruit: white berries September – December

Native to: Europe, Britain (though not Scotland or Ireland)

Parts Used: Twigs, berries and leaves

Harvesting: All year round

Actions: Anti-neoplastic, antispasmodic, cardiac tonic, diuretic, hypotensive, immunostimulant, nervine, sedative, stimulant, vasodilator

Constituents: Choline, histamine

Glycoproteins: mistletoe lectins and viscumin

Polypeptides known as viscotoxins

Flavonoids: quercetin derived

Polyphenolic acid derivatives: caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, gentisic acid

Polysaccharides

Triterpenes: betulinic acid, lupeol, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid

Lignans: syringin, syringaresinol, eleutheroside E

Combines with: Lime blossom

Circulatory muscle joint: High blood pressure

Energetics: Smell: xmas, fire

Heart chakra, breast, feminine

Other Notes: Traditionally cut mistletoe should not be allowed to touch the ground

It is said to protect against witchcraft if worn around the neck

Mistletoe has been found in a Bronze age coffin burial in Yorkshire, England and the bog corpse in Lindow, Cheshire, England (Believed to be from 300BC) is thought to have consumed mistletoe immediately before his ritual death

Druids held mistletoe in high esteem

It is said that if you kiss under mistletoe then good luck will be brought to the relationship

It is banned from the Christmas decorations of many churches except within the Minster of York where on Christmas eve when a large bunch of mistletoe was carried onto the high alter and left there until twelfth night

It is associated with fertility, the summer solstice and Jack in the Green in paganism

It is said that if mistletoe falls then a nation will fall

If hung over a mirror on midsummer’s night then it is said that women will see their future husbands

Planet: Sun    Element: Air

Cautions: Do not use in large doses

Do not use berries on children