Mistletoe is the common name for the Loranthaceae, a family of chiefly tropical semi parasitic herbs and shrubs with leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries. They have green leaves, but they manufacture only part of the nutrients they require. Mistletoes are aerial semi parasites, attaching themselves to their hosts by modified roots called haustoria, with which they absorb water and food from the host.
In botanical terms, the mistletoe is called Viscum album, with white viscous fruits, growing on apples, apricots, and very rarely on the oak. No wonder, ‘ mistletoe’ is often taken to denote somebody who is a parasite by nature!
Mistletoe is associated with Christmas Day, 25th of December and is an integral part of Christmas celebration and decoration.
Another significant meaning is also attached to this interesting flower, “I want to be kissed!”
The custom of kissing under a branch of mistletoe apparently originated among the Druids and other early Europeans, to whom mistletoe was sacred. From early times it has been associated with folklore and superstition.
In England, the Christmas mistletoe was burned on the Twelfth Night so that boys and girls who had kissed under it would not be jinxed and would be able to marry.
The Victorians saw the flower as an emblem of the power to surmounting difficulties; this is possibly due to the arduous task of this parasitic flower to survive in spite of harsh and hostile circumstances.
The mistletoe family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta of the class Magnoliopsida and the order Santalales
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