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Updates from the SRSCRO
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December 2015
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Rick McLeod @atomicasset  |
Mindy Mets @nuclearstem |
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Wishing you a very
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year!
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Mistletoe
and Christmas
The name
 mistletoe comes from two Anglo Saxon words 'Mistel', which means dung, and 'tan', which means twig or stick! So you could translate Mistletoe as 'poo on a stick'!!! Not exactly romantic, is it?!
But, Mistletoe is especially interesting botanically because it is a partial parasite (a "hemiparasite"). As a parasitic plant, it grows on the branches or trunk of a tree and actually sends out roots that penetrate into the tree and take up nutrients. But mistletoe is also capable of growing on its own; like other plants it can produce its own food by photosynthesis. Mistletoe, however, is more commonly found growing as a parasitic plant.
The Greeks and earlier peoples thought that it had mystical powers, and down through the centuries it became associated with many folklore customs. From the earliest times, mistletoe has been one of the most magical, mysterious, and sacred plants of European folklore. It was considered to bestow life and fertility; a protection against poison; and an aphrodisiac. In the Middle Ages and later, branches of mistletoe were hung from ceilings to ward off evil spirits. In Europe sprigs were placed over house and stable doors to prevent the entrance of witches.
When the first Christians came to Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of Mistletoe as a decoration in Churches, but many still continued to use it! York Minster Church in the UK used to hold a special Mistletoe Service in the winter, where wrong doers in the city of York could come and be pardoned.
Kissing under the mistletoe was first associated with the Greek festival of Saturnalia and later with primitive marriage rites. The custom probably originated from two beliefs. One belief was that it has power to bestow fertility. It was also believed that the dung from which the mistletoe grew would also possess "life-giving" power. In Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce, or warring spouses kiss and make-up. Later, the eighteenth-century English were credited with a certain magical appeal called a kissing ball. At Christmas time, a young lady standing under a ball of mistletoe, brightly trimmed with evergreens, ribbons and ornaments, cannot refuse to be kissed. Such a kiss could mean deep romance or lasting friendship and goodwill. If the girl remained unkissed, she can expect not to marry the following year.
In some parts of E
 ngland, the Christmas mistletoe is burned on the twelfth night, lest all the boys and girls who have kissed under it never marry. Whether we believe it or not, it always makes for fun and frolic at Christmas celebrations. Even if the pagan significance has been long forgotten, the custom of exchanging a kiss under the mistletoe can still be found in many European countries as well as in Canada. Thus, if a couple in love exchanges a kiss under the mistletoe, it is interpreted as a promise to marry, as well as a prediction of happiness and long life. In France, the custom linked to mistletoe was reserved for New Year's Day: "Au gui l'An neuf" (Mistletoe for the New Year). Today, kisses can be exchanged under the mistletoe any time during the holiday season.
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Spotlight
Mistletoe
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Mistletoe
Fun Facts
1. Mistletoe is a parasite
Mistletoe is an evergreen pest that attaches itself to trees, plants and shrubs, stealing their nutrients and water. This can weaken or disfigure the host plant, and eventually even kill it.
"When you get a heavy infestation, it keeps sucking strength away from the plant," according to Rick Gibson, a plant expert at the University of Arizona. "It's almost like a cancerous type of growth."
2. Mistletoe is really hard to get rid of
Once it infects a tree, mistletoe is difficult to remove. When its seeds sprout, they grow through the bark of trees and into their tissues, extending up and down within the branches. Even if you cut off the visible portion of the invader, new plants often grow from inside the host. The most effective way to fight it is to remove an infected branch or limb entirely.
3. Mistletoe is poisonous...
Eating any part of the plant can cause drowsiness, blurred vision, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weakness and seizures. The symptoms are caused by a poisonous ingredient called phoratoxin, which is found in all parts of the plant, including the berries, and is especially concentrated in the leaves. Eating the plant raw or drinking it in tea can cause poisoning.
4. ...But it also has medicinal properties
Despite its dangers, mistletoe has a history of medicinal use. The European varieties have been used for centuries in traditional medicine to treat seizures, headaches, infertility, hypertension and arthritis. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, mistletoe injections are available only in clinical trials in the U.S., but are available by prescription in Europe, where the plant is used as a treatment for cancer.
5. Mistletoe is also a desert plant
European mistletoe grows in temperate regions all over the world. There are also several species in America that thrive in the deserts in the Southwest, where they live on palo verde, mesquite, juniper, pine and other trees.
6. Mistletoe comes in different forms
Not all mistletoe has the festive holiday known to most of us. Some broadleaf mistletoes have green stems with oval-shaped leaves and small, sticky, whitish berries. Dwarf mistletoes are smaller, with scaly yellow or orange leaves. Some have no leaves at all and some look like a dense bundle of twigs stuck in the branches of another tree.
7. And goes by many different names
Mistletoe is also known as birdlime, all-heal, golden bough, drudenfuss, iscador and devil's fuge.
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Closing Thoughts
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It was slightly before Christmas. The trip went reasonably well, and I was ready to go back home. The airport on the other end had turned a tacky red and green, and loudspeakers blared annoying elevator renditions of cherished Christmas carols. Being someone who took Christmas very seriously, and being slightly tired, I was not in a particularly good mood.
Going to check in my luggage (which, for some reason, had become one suitcase with entirely new clothes), I saw hanging mistletoe. Not real mistletoe, but very cheap plastic with red paint on some of the rounder parts and green paint on some of the flatter and pointier parts, that could be taken for mistletoe only in a very Picasso sort of way.
With a considerable degree of irritation and nowhere else to vent it, I said to the attendant, "Even if I were not married, I would not want to kiss you under such a ghastly mockery of mistletoe."
"Sir, look more closely at where the mistletoe is."
"Ok, I see that it's above the luggage scale, which is the place you'd have to step forward for a kiss."
"That's not why it's there."
"Ok, I give up. Why is it there?"
"It's there so you can kiss your luggage goodbye."
Q. If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get?
A. Mistletoe!
One tiny mistletoe kiss burns up 3 calories. Therefore, the longer the kiss: the better the exercise!
An average person spends thirteen days of his or her life kissing.
4,400 couples congregated in the streets in Chile for a ten-second kiss, setting the world record for the largest number of people kissing simultaneously.
Santa's Advice: Always ask the prettiest girl or most handsome guy for a kiss under the Christmas mistletoe - they may just say yes.
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| Contact Information |
SRSCRO, PO Box 696, Aiken, SC 20802
Staff:
Mindy Mets - NWI Program Manager - 803-508-7403
Amy Merry - Administrative & Business Manager - 803-508-7401
Kim Saxon - Assistant Coordinator -
803-508-7656
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