There is a legend that one Christmas Eve Martin Luther was journeying through the pine forest. He was inspired by the sight of thousands of stars twinkling through the branches of the trees. Hessian mercenaries brought the custom to the U.S. during the American revolution. Here in Illinois the first Christmas trees were set up in 1804. Mistletoe is the common name of several semiparasitic plants of Europe, North America and China.
American mistletoe grows mainly through the southern states on a wide variety of trees.
As a holiday decoration, mistletoe is one of the oldest in common use. Mistletoe was widely used centuries before Christ as a religious symbol in pagan rituals. The ancient Druids of Britain regarded mistletoe as sacred and believed it had both magical powers and medicinal properties. Mistletoe was so sacred to the Druids that if two enemies met beneath a tree on which mistletoe was growing, they would lay down their weapons, exchange greetings and observe a 24 hour truce. Due to its widespread use in pagan rituals, mistletoe was not allowed in Christian churches during the early days of Christianity.