Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Mistletoe. An American and European plant growing parasitically on various trees, and celebrated on account of the religious purposes to which it was consecrated by the ancient Celtic nations of Europe, being held in great veneration by the Druids, particularly when it was found growing on the oak. It is a small shrub, with sessile, obovate, entire, somewhat leathery leaves, and small, yellowish-green flowers, the whole forming a pendent bush, covered in winter with small white berries, which contain a glutinous substance. It is common enough on certain species of trees, such as apple and pear trees, hawthorn, maple, lime, and other similar trees, but is very seldom found on the oak. Its roots penetrate into the substance of the tree on which it grows, and latterly it kills the branch supporting it. Traces of the old superstitious regard for the mistletoe still remain in Germany and England, as kissing under it at Christmas.

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