How Does Mistletoe Work?

and ten meaning twig. It's thought that the plant is named for bird droppings on branches, which is precisely how mistletoe grows. Birds eat the berries, then sometimes poop the seeds onto the branches of trees where the plant lives. Mistletoe is a hemi parasitic plant that grows on tree branches, often of hardwoods like oak or apple. As mistletoe grows on a branch, it uses its roots to invade the bark, which allows mistletoe to absorb water and nutrients from the tree.

It's called hemi parasitic because it doesn't get all of its nutrients this way. It can also photosynthesize energy from the sun with its green leaves. Sometimes mistletoe might harm a tree or cause deformities in its branches, but it usually doesn't kill its host, because, after all, if the host tree dies, the mistletoe dies. Also, it's not uncommon for one missiletoe plant to grow right on top of

another one. If that happens. Researchers from the University of California Riverside found that the plants may share the tree by relying more on photosynthesis for food to lessen the harm caused to their host. Aside from pooping, birds also help spread missletoe seeds by eating the fruit of the berries, which are sticky with juice, then wiping their beaks on a tree's bark to clean off those sticky seeds. The stickiness helps the seeds stay in the tree rather than

falling to the ground. Within six weeks, the mistletoe plant begins growing, although it takes several years to flower and produce berries of its own. There may have been a bit of confusion historically about the plant springing from birds themselves rather than from seeds that the birds had spread.

There are a number of plants around the world that fit into this category and are commonly called mistletoe, but a few species from two genera are associated with Christmas and related holidays, Phorodendron and viscom They both have smooth, small, evergreen leaves and bear small, round berries that are either

waxy white or bright red in color. And during winters and areas of the northern Hemisphere with deciduous forests where trees lose their leaves until spring, the mistletoe is easy to spot because its leaves stay green all year long. But aside from this basic fact, how did this plant sink its roots into Christmas? The holiday has assimilated a wide range of customs and traditions from many cultures, and mistletoe is one of them. Lots of myths around mistletoe.

For example, north Smith's dating back to the eighth century, said that mistletoe had the power to raise people from the dead, relating to the resurrection of Boulder, the god of the summer sun. To sum up this legend, Boulder's mother, the goddess Frigga, didn't want him to die, so she went to all the elements and plants and animals to ask that they never harm him. But she forgot to ask the simple mistletoe or perhaps having no trunk of

its own, it couldn't be asked at any rate. The trickster Loki clocked this loophole, and Boulder ended up dead. The tears that Frigga cried landed on the mistletoe and became its berries, and Boulder was brought back. She declared it a grand plant and kissed everyone who walked underneath that out of gratitude for getting her son back. Another myth in mistletoe's past comes from what's now the British Isles.

In the first century, Celtic people's associated mistletoe with miracles, from increased fertility to curing diseases to protection from witchcraft in the ceremony after the new moon following the winter solstice, and druids would cut mistletoe from oak trees, using the white cloth catch it to avoid letting it touch the ground, which is still considered unlucky by some. Spriggs were distributed for wearing or hanging in doorways to bring people good fortune.

The origin of the tradition of kissing under missiletobe is vague. It may have to do with that story of Friga and Boulder, but also ancient Greeks considered mistletobe and naphrodisiac. Associations of the plant with fertility persisted around Europe through the Middle Ages, at least perhaps because of the color and consistency of the juice of those white berries. Mistletoe may have also been associated with the Roman winter festivals, saturnalia and so yeah, just lots of ties to winter

celebrations and love or lust. Historically, before our modern missletoe practices in England, young women may have been encouraged to place a sprig of the plant under their pillow at night, like a kid would place a tooth for the tooth fairy, but instead of getting money, the mistletoe would supposedly bring a dream about the woman's future beloved, and burning a missletoe plant not under one's pillow was also thought for tell a woman's marital bliss or black thereof a missletoe

that burned steadily prophesied a healthy marriage, while fickle flames may have meant an ill suited partnership. A modern missletoe etiquette does vary and can seem a little pushy to me, like do whatever you want, no matter what shrubbery is over your head, But supposedly Anyone who kisses under mistletoe will have good luck in should remove one berry when they plant that kiss. When all the berries are gone from that sprig, the plant's store of luck is up.

A mistletoe has also symbolized peace. Ancient Norse tails say that enemies who encountered each other under trees bearing mistletoe would lay down their arms, embrace each other, and agree to a truce until the next day. This bit of goodwill might have also helped prompt modern practices. Meanwhile, in the tradition of using mistletoe medicinally, extracts from the plant are commonly used as complementary or alternative medicines in Europe for conditions like cancer, but the FDA has not yet

approved them for use in the US. If you do have real mistletoe hanging in your home this season, note that European varieties are fairly toxic to humans and some pets. American varieties are less so, but since you may not be sure which kind you're standing under, it's best practice to call poison control or of trinarian if anyone does eat any missletoe, and keep it in places where pets and children won't be able to get to it just

in case. Today's episode is based on the article how Missletoe Works on how stuff Works dot Com, written by Barbara Zazinski and Sam Abramson. Brain Stuff is production off I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang. The four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,