As a parasitic plant, mistletoe grows on the trunks of other trees, actually sending out roots that penetrate the host tree and take valuable nutrients. European mistletoe, Viscum album, is thought to be the original and true mistletoe. Both types have dark green leaves and white sticky berries. The plant is propagated by birds that eat the berries.
Berries stick on their bills and are then flown to other trees where they are deposited haphazardly.
Seeds are also spread through the droppings of birds, and it is actually this occurrence that has given the plant its name. Because the plants were seen to grow mysteriously from bird dung, ancient people thought that the mistletoe had mystical powers of life, vitality, and fertility. By the 16th century, it was known that mistletoe was growing from seeds that had traveled through the digestive tracts of the birds, but the belief in the sacred and mystical powers of mistletoe remained. In Europe, mistletoe was most commonly seen in apple trees. Mistletoe in oak trees was rare and was considered by the ancient Celtic Druids to have sacred powers.