Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Our Christmas custom of hanging mistletoe in our houses dates back to Norse traditions and more recently to Victorian times. It’s amusing when you learn that the name has Anglo Saxon origins meaning dung on a stick. All mistletoes, which are found nearly worldwide, are dioecious, with male and female flowers occurring on separate plants. The female plants with their transparent white fruits are preferred for decorations. But do take care as they are moderately poisonous and can be dangerous to small children. The mistletoe that grows on hardwoods in the eastern United States is called Phoradendron leucarpum. Phoradendron means plant thief and comes from the Greek word phor meaning "thief" and dendron meaning "tree," an appropriate name as all mistletoes are parasitic, robbing the host plant through its haustorium, a root-like structure that grows into the branch of the host plant.
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