Spotlight on mistletoe

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without mistletoe. A sprig of the jolly white-berried stuff hung over the door has been an excuse for anything from a festive peck on the cheek to a full-blown clinch.

Mistletoe has a very peculiar mode of growth. It lives on trees, with no roots of its own.

Although it’s widely thought of as a parasite, it’s really only partly so since it manufactures its own carbohydrates in the same way as terrestrial plants. Its green leaves capture carbon dioxide and energy from sunlight by photosynthesis.

True parasites don’t do anything for themselves. But it does rely on its host for water, support and a few basic nutrients.

Mistletoe berries only start ripening in early December, peaking just right for Christmas.

But what you buy in the shops is rarely British mistletoe. Our native sort, which grows wild on poplars, hawthorns, ash and a few other deciduous trees is increasingly rare.

The bunch you buy at the garden centre or greengrocer was almost certainly grown commercially overseas and imported. But it’s none the worse for that.

A bunch hanging in the right spot still does the trick – although maybe not this year...