Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-12-30
The NststietOe.

Providence Journal.
No plAst is better known for Its associa-
tons with Christmas than the mistietoe.
Il is said that upwards Of loo tons art
forwarded 10 Loudon every year for
Christmas decorations, mostly from HERE
forshire We rarely ses il IN this country
The customs connected with its use SCI NJ
70 have descended from very ancienl
times IL is we'll known tbat the Druids
hell 1t III religious yeneration, possibly
from their supers,itluus regard for Inc
number three Iits berries Often occurring IL
clusters of that humber. The priest, il
seems, cut the brat ches With gold L
sickle, and distributed portions to the
people M a sort of cure-ell. The lcelsndc
hero Be;der was killed by dart of its
wood. Nothing on earth was allowed to
hurt him, but one of his sly enemies be-
thought him of this plant which grew, as
It were, ~ the air, and through 1t worked
his destruction. Il is sung ular how, in
the old myths. we note the recurrence of
similar legends in regard to demigods who
were vulnerable only at some Que point or
by means OF some particular weapon.
Achilles, Sgfrled and Bladder are in
stances. Although long used in medicine, it
is now bsnlshed from the pharmacOpCe as
1t is generally supposed 20 grow On the
oak, but 1t Ii rather exceptional on that
plant. The irus yiscum is otftenest found
III England on the apple tree, with whi,h
It adheres so closely Ms actually TO become
| part of the host Its annual rings CORE
i spond with those on the tree, or rather the
branch on which it is found and which 1t
eventually kills, Ell her by inducing an
Extra hJ9 Of sap or by checking such
i flow. Its ste ms often attain the thickness
of broOmstick, aud it constantly forks Bs
/ it grows The opposite sessile leaves are
| lesthery and of yellowish green hue. 1t
| has two kinds Of flowers, male aud
! female, and small white berries Although
found on an apple tree, it does not grow
on the pear, but lines. maple and
mountain ash are subject to its attacks.
The family LoranthRcene, to which the
mistletoe belongs, is represented, in the
Eastern United States, by Phorodendrou,
woody parasite, with much brancht
stsms aud axillary spikes of flowers grow
ing from New Jersey to Iliiuois and south.
ward, and by Arceathobium minutur,
EoRelmann found on spruces in the State
of New York, aud closely relatsd to u
Pacific coast sps cies Ii is very dsstructiv e
to these trees. Its discoyerer was Mrs
L. A Mlllngton of Glens Falls. Her
account of the seeds is curiou4. She
wrtes +" Fearing that should fail to g, t
full seed vessels, l picked single plant
with vessels very much swollen. When
holding it gently between my thumb and
huger, TO observe it more closely, | felt
the tiniest recoil of the capsule, and the
seed struck me smart blow in the face.
l gathered smother and another, and each
pretty little bomb went off with fore
that must have carried it several feat
away. VIII, the seeds are being
'o@n, there must be quite brisk BON
bardmeut going on for several days' The
mi-tlrtoe always rec,ls to MIND that mos
delightful of all holiday reading, the
account of how MIR. Piikwick ana his
friends spent their Christmas ut DiugleS
Dell May we ALL with or wthou; miste
toe, enjoy ourselves pleasantly.