Why do we kiss under mistletoe? - Carlos Reif
The sight of mistletoe may either send
you scurrying
or if you have your eye on someone,
awaiting an opportunity
beneath its snow white berries.
But how did the festive Christmas
tradition of kissing under mistletoe
come about?
The long lived custom intertwines
the mythology and biology
of this intriguing plant.
There are more than 1,000 species of
mistletoe which grows the world over.
In fact, the ancient Europeans
were so captivated
by the plant’s unusual growth habits
that they included it in their legends
and myths.
In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder
described how
the Druid priesthood in ancient England
believed that mistletoe
was a plant dropped down from heaven
by the gods;
that explained its unlikely position
amongst the high branches
of certain trees.
They also believed it had powers
of healing and bestowing fertility.
Meanwhile, Scandinavian legends told
of the plant’s mystical qualities
in the story of the god Baldur
and his adoring mother, Frigg,
goddess of love, marriage and fertility.
Frigg loved her son so much
that she commanded every plant,
animal and inanimate object to vow
they’d never harm him.
In her fervor, however,
she overlooked the mistletoe.
The mischievous god Loki realized
this oversight,
and pierced Baldur’s heart with an arrow
carved from a mistletoe branch.
Frigg cried tears of such
sadness that they formed
the mistletoe’s pearly berries,
making the other gods pity her
and agree to resurrect Baldur.
Hearing the news, Frigg became
so overjoyed that she transformed
the mistletoe from a symbol of death
into one of peace and love.
She mandated a one day
truce for all fights
and that everyone embraced beneath
its branches when they passed
to spread more love into the world.
In the 17th century, British colonists
arriving in the New World
found a different but very similar looking
species of mistletoe.
They applied it to these tales
of magic, fertility and love,
spreading the mistletoe hanging tradition
from Europe into America.
By the 18th century, people
in Britain had turned this
into a Christmas tradition.
But this custom comes down to more
than just human imagination.
All of it was inspired
by the plant’s intriguing biology.
We see mistletoe as a festive decoration,
but draped on tree boughs in the wild,
it’s known as a partly parasitic plant.
Mistletoe relies on modified roots
called haustoria
that penetrate the tree bark
and siphon off the water and minerals
trees carry up their trunks.
To colonize nearby trees with its seeds,
mistletoe depends on birds
and other creatures
to do the dispersing.
Birds that eat the mistletoe’s
sticky white berries
sometimes get rid of the gluey seeds
by wiping them off onto tree bark,
or with a bit of luck,
they excrete the indigestible seed
onto a tree where it germinates
and starts to grow.
With its resilience and foliage
that stays lush
even while the surrounding trees
lose their leaves,
you can see why mistletoe captivated
our superstitious ancestors.
They saw these as signs of the plant’s
magical qualities and fertility.
Even today, the mistletoe inspires wonder
with the diversity of wildlife
it supports.
More than just a parasite,
it’s also known as a keystone species.
It's eaten by a diversity of animals,
including deer, elk, squirrels, chipmunks,
porcupines, robins, bluebirds,
mourning doves,
and the butterfly genus Delius.
Some mistletoe species
produce dense bushes,
which are excellent nesting locations
for a variety of birds.
And despite their parasitic
relationship with trees,
mistletoes can also help other plants.
For instance, juniper sprouts
near mistletoe to benefit
from the visiting berry-eating birds.
Through the many benefits it provides,
mistletoe influences diversity
and allows ecosystems to flourish.
You might even say,
that for this iconic plant,
life imitates legend.
In the wild, mistletoe has the power
to bring things together.
And in our own traditions
we see that happening too.
