A Natural History of Mistletoe

Mistletoe is frequently spotted hanging above lovers' heads in terrible holiday specials--but only during one month of the year. That makes it easy to forget that more than 1,300 species hang in forests year-round, parasitizing thousands of tree species around the world. Or, rather, hemiparasiting, which means the plant is partially self-sufficient: it has its own leaves to collect sunlight to convert into energy, but feeds off of a host tree for water and nutrients.[caption id="attachment_465" align="aligncenter" width="607" caption="White mistletoe berries. "] [/caption] [More]