The Truth About Mistletoe

Image Gallery Defying its gentle, Chinese-watercolor appearance, this limpid, leafy mistletoe is no darned good for its host. DOUGLAS BARBE/CALFLORA

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"Ivy, holly, and mistletoe
Make a good Christmas
Wherever they go."
—Old English saying

"The only good mistletoe is no *&@#! mistletoe at all." —Georgia pecan farmer

My baptism beneath the mistletoe came when I was painfully 13.

I was standing in the doorway doing what I always did at parties — watching the other kids have a good time — when Sara came up behind me. The daughter of a dairy farmer, Sara was red-haired and freckled, a good two feet taller than I, at least a hundred times louder, and sturdy — what my parents always called "big boned."

The next thing I knew Sara was bellowing, "Hey look, I caught Krautwurst under the mistletoe!" Everyone in the room turned in time to see Sara grab me by the shoulders, spin me around, mash her face to mine, and give me a hard, straight-on-the-mouth, body-burning kiss that in no way resembled my Aunt Maude's my-how-he's-grown pecks on the cheek at Thanksgiving.

It is a moment frozen bittersweet among my life's experiences. There I stood in front of my peers, as embarrassed as I had ever been in my entire 13 years. But then again, there I stood in front of my peers, as kissed as I had ever been in my entire 13 years.

I've had a love/hate relationship with mistletoe ever since. And so, it seems, has the rest of civilization through the ages.

Did You Say Myth-letoe?

Mistletoe is not just one plant, but a surprisingly large family of plants, some 1,300 species worldwide. Some have large leaves, some have no leaves. But virtually all are aerial plants: They live above ground, on the limbs of shrubs or trees.

This characteristic explains why few earthly plants are as steeped in superstition as mistletoe: It's not earthly at all. Mistletoe's roots never touch soil, yet the plant flourishes year-round, without apparent nourishment. Even in winter, when its host plant is seemingly lifeless, mistletoe thrives, green as ever.

To the people of early civilizations, there was only one explanation: Mistletoe possessed magical powers. All across northern Europe, mistletoe was accorded special status. It was an all-healer; a cure for epilepsy, an antidote for poisoning. A few sprigs in your home kept witches away and protected your farm from trolls.

The druids of ancient Gaul and what's now the British Isles considered oak trees, and especially the mistletoe that grew from them, sacred Each year, on the fifth night after the new moon following the winter solstice, white-robed priests performed a solemn ritual, cutting mistletoe from oaks using a golden sickle. The mistletoe was then distributed to the people to hang in their homes for good luck and protection.

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