Mistletoe is the common name for a group of hemi-parasitic flowering plants in the order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub. Mistletoe bears evergreen leaves that do some photosynthesis, and using the host mainly for water and mineral nutrients. Due to its hemi-parasitic characteristic, it is often considered a pest that kills trees and devalues natural habitats, but was recently recognized as an ecological keystone species. A broad array of animals depends on mistletoe for food and nesting.
According to custom, the mistletoe must not touch the ground between its cutting and its removal as the last of Christmas greens at Candlemas; it may remain hanging through the year, often to preserve the house from lightning or fire, until it was replaced the following Christmas Eve.
According to a custom of Scandinavian origin, any male and female who meet under a hanging mistletoe are obliged to kiss.
Viscum album ( Family : Santalaceae ) is used in Europe, whereas Phoradendron serotinum ( Family : Santalaceae ) is used in North America .
24Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Matthew 7 :24-27
info extracted from Wikipedia
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