CHAP. 93.—THREE VARIETIES OF MISTLETOE. THE NATURE OF MISTLETOE AND SIMILAR PLANTS.

There are three varieties of the mistletoe.[1] That which grows upon the fir and the larch has the name of[2] stelis in Eubœa; and there is the hyphear[3] of Arcadia. It grows also upon the quercus,[4] the robur, the holm-oak, the wild plum, and the terebinth, but upon no other tree.[5] It is most plentiful of all upon the quercus, and is then known as "adasphear." In all the trees, with the exception of the holmoak and the quercus, there is a considerable difference in its smell and pungency, and the leaf of one kind has a disagreeable odour; both varieties, however, are sticky and bitter. The hyphear is the best for fattening[6] cattle with; it begins, however, by purging off all defects, after which it fattens all such animals as have been able to withstand the purging. It is generally said, however, that those animals which have any radical malady in the intestines cannot withstand its drastic effects. This method of treatment is generally adopted in the summer for a period of forty days.

Besides the above, there is yet another difference[7] in the mistletoe; that which grows upon the trees which lose their leaves, loses its leaves as well; while, on the other hand, that which grows upon evergreens always retains its leaves. In whatever way the seed may have been sown, it will never come to anything, unless it has been first swallowed[8] and then voided by birds, the wood-pigeon more particularly, and the thrush: such being the nature of the plant, that it will not come to anything unless the seed is first ripened in the crop of the bird. It never exceeds a single cubit in height, and is always green and branchy. The male[9] plant is fruitful, the female barren; sometimes, indeed, the male even bears no berry.

1. The Viscum Europæum of modern naturalists.

2. The Viscum album of Linnæus; but Sprengel takes it to be the Loranthus Europæus.

3. Fée questions whether this may not be the Loranthus Europæus.

4. The Viscum album of Linnæus; the oak mistletoe or real mistletoe.

5. This is not the fact: it grows upon a vast multitude of other trees.

6. It is no longer used for this purpose.

7. The mistletoe never in any case loses its leaves, upon whatever tree it may grow.

8. This is, of course, untrue; but the seeds, after being voided by birds, are more likely to adhere to the bark of trees, and so find a nidus for ger- mination.

9. The exact opposite is the case, the female being the fruitful plant.