Viscus album
Gui blanc
Mistletoe
Additional information
| Plant family | |
|---|---|
| Area | Provence Verte, Sainte Baume |
| Flower colour | yellow |
| Flower size | 3 mm |
| Flowering months | March, April, May |
| Leaf type | Lanceolate, Elliptic |
| Height | to 40 cm dia. |
Description
Mistletoe is a parasite. At Sainte Baume the Hawthorn tree is one of the host trees. The stalkless flowers are either male or female. The berries are poisonous to humans; birds are able to eat them and, in doing so, spread them from tree to tree, resulting in the familiar large clumps of mistletoe.
A holy plant of the Druids. It was linked to fertility rites from which the custom of kissing under the mistletoe has arisen.
Flowers
Flowers small, green, 4-petalled. Male and female flowers are very similar, growing on separate plants.
Leaves
Elliptic oval leaf, Lanceolate leaf is lance-shaped: long and widest in the middle. Narrowly oval to long, wider in the middle, rounded tip, opposite, leathery, stalkless, 7 cm long.
Fruits Seeds
Berry: mistletoe berry, white and sticky.
Medical
Leaves and stem: internally to treat mild hypertension, hardening of the arteries, nervous tension.
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