About
A woody, evergreen shrub that is semi-parasitic, taking water and nutrients from its host but also carrying out its own photosynthesis. In winter it is easy to spot as a shrubby, spherical mass in its host tree, which is most commonly apple. Yellowy-green leaves are held in pairs on branching stems, and tiny, yellowish flowers are produced in spring. These are followed, on female plants, by round, white berries. The berries are favoured by birds including blackcaps, which wipe their beaks clean of seeds on a handy branch, and thrushes, which eat the whole berry allowing the seed to pass through their digestive system and be dispersed. Mistletoe is widespread, but scattered, in England, with a stronghold in the south-west midlands and the southern Welsh borders. It is rare in the rest of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
About the genus
Viscum is a genus of between 70 to 100 mistletoe which are hemiparasitic plants growing on woody shrubs and trees, taking their water and nutrients from their host. Woody with opposite pairs of green foliage, they produce inconspicuous green-yellow flowers and white, yellow, orange or red berries. Seeds are embedded in a sticky juice inside the berries which are dispersed by birds such as the mistle thrush
Growing conditions
Plant details
Care notes