What a delightful surprise the first time I looked up and saw all the clumps of mistletoe growing in the tops of my trees, it is called golden because of the yellow colour of the leaves and stalks when kept. Bretons hung great bunches of it above their doors at the winter Solstice; by midsummer it was the colour of heaven's fire. The mistletoe in Florida is green year round and its berries are pale pearly green. Often trees may succumb to enormous colonies of this parasitic plant.The Celts worshipped the oak, the strongest of trees, as a great god; mistletoe, which grows on the oak, is believed to be the hiding place of the life of the host. The Druids cut the parasite with gold, not iron, and ensured that it never touched the ground, which would cause it to lose its healing properties. In fact, in the Celtic language mistletoe means "all-heal." Mistletoe was considered a specific cure for epilepsy, tumours, sterility, and witchcraft.
