The Coolidge examiner., 1940-12-24
BY A. w. Spangehl
Instructor of Botany

The month Of December brings
us Christmas, the most cosmopol1-
tan Of holidays. In the United
States the decorations and minor
rites which go with Christmas
have been borrowed from many
lands. Holly, the Christmas tree,
mistletoe, Santa Claus, bells, can
dies, and many others are nearly
all foreign to each other. We
have adopted them all, and to-
gether they make the American
Christmas the brightest of holi-
days.
Mistletoe has been a venerated
plant of the inhabitants of Ger
many, Britain and the Scandinav-
ian peninsula long before the
birth of Christ. 1t was intimately
connected with many Of the super
stitions of these ancient people.
According to ancient Morse leg
end, the arrow with which the
blind god Hodor slew Balder was
made of mistletoe wood. The an
cient inhabitants of England. the
Celts, worshipped it. It's power of
magic became exceedingly great If
it was found growing in an oak
tree. Their Druid priests would
cut the mistletoe from the oak
with a knife of gold and then
place it into white OK hide.
Later during weird religious rites,
it was distributed among the peO-
pie to ward off evil spirits.
From ancient ballads and myths
creep out plant lore of our forgot
ten ancestors who lived when the
Huns were overrunning Europe.
In the charms and rites connected
with the gathering and admin
STEERING of these venerated plants.
one can see a form of religious
worship so ancient that in COM
parison, the worship Of Christ is
comparatively modern.
With Christmas we associate
holly, the Christmas tree, the ring
ing of sleigh bells, etc. These as
sociations are all comparatively
modern; but the mistletoe goes
back to the vague dawn of man,
to "dim figures of trolls, moor
angers," and stalking fiends Of
the lonely places" creatures
whose baleful eyes shone like
flame through the mist.
During the middle ages and
even into the 18th century, mistle-
toe was held in high regard as a
remedy for epilepsy, convulsions,
dropsy, and severe pains of the
stomach. The leaves and stems
made into tea have a mild laxa-
tive effect. This seems to be its
only medicinal property.
The true mistletoe is a native of
Europe. 1t includes 20 types or
species. Viscum is the botanical
name of the genera. The Amer
lean mistletoe is very closely re-
lated to the true mistletoe of Eur
ope, thus the same common name.
Our mistletoe is known botanically
as Phoradendron and includes
over 100 known types or species,
mostly tropical. Ten Of these spec
les occur in the United States. OF
these 10 Arizona can boast of all
but three.
The various mistletoe found
within the state are mostly in the
higher and cooler sections. One
specie, Phoradendron californi-
cum, is found ON the desert where
it thrives on mesquite, irOnwOod,
and catclaw. Another specie,
Phoradendron macrophyllum or
golden mistletOe as it is commonly
called, may be found On cotton
woods growing in river bottoms.
The golden mistletoe is the one
sought for Christmas decorations
due to it's large greenish yellow
leaves and large ivory colored
berries.
TIL mistletoe is spread by birds
that eat the fruit. The seeds are
deposited in their excrement on
limbs of trees where, if the con-
ditions are right, they germinate.
A pointed like root called the
sinker develops; it pierces the
bark of the branch and goes to
the woody core but does not enter
into it. Near the surface of the
bark of the host, the sinker sends
out lateral roots which in turn
produce other sinkers. From buds
on the upper portion of the sink