IT’S mistletoe season again, when people who never usually care about the plant suddenly start putting it up in the house to the great delight of sniggering teenagers.
Mistletoe is easy to see in the leafless trees, forming huge green ball-like structures in the branches. It is a parasitic plant though it is capable of some photosynthesis on its own.
However, if an infestation gets too prolific, it can create long-term damage to its host.
The white berries are favoured by birds, who help spread the sticky seeds, and especially the mistle thrush, which is where its name originates.
Mistletoe is generally poisonous to humans, although it would be more of a sickness than anything fatal.
Mistletoe has been very important to societies of the past. Most saw the plant as a symbol of fertility but Celts were thought to use it for medicinal purposes, according to archaeological evidence from peat bogs. In fact, mistletoe has been used in the past to treat arthritis, blood pressure and epilepsy.
So, it’s a useful plant, if not particularly easy to collect, but it’s thought it was in the 18th century when it became associated with the snogging we know so well.
The story as to how the association came about is generally associated with the Norse gods, and specifically Odin’s son, Baldur.
He was prophesied to die, so his mother, Frigg, the goddess of love, arranged with all the plants and animals not to harm him, but Loki, a ne’er do well if ever there was one, killed him with an arrow made from mistletoe. Luckily, the other gods revived him and Frigg, probably delirious with joy, bestowed a kiss on anyone that walked under mistletoe.
Sounds a bit like one of Rog the Retired more expansive stories, but it’ll do for me. This is, after all, the season for the strategic planning at a party regarding the green twigs hanging from the ceiling.
• Fred Knobbit is a nature blogger. He grew up in the Pennines in Lancashire on the edge of an industrial town but is now safely in Cornwall. You can read his archive at www.bodminblogger.com