- Type
- Trees & Vines
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Season
- Winter
- Sowing
- Foraged
Mistletoe
Viscum album var. coloratum
Lectins and viscotoxins · a hemiparasite living up in the winter canopy
Mistletoe drives haustoria into the branch of another tree and lives there. In a winter wood stripped of leaves, the green clump bunched like a nest in the crown of an oak is this plant, which is why midwinter is when it stands out most. It makes its own leaves and photosynthesises, while drawing water and minerals from the tree it sits on. Markets sell the dried stems and leaves cut small as mistletoe tea, and only the liquid from simmering is drunk. The yellow berries are wrapped in a sticky mucilage; birds eat them and wipe their beaks on another branch, and that is how it spreads. The berries are not eaten. The Donguibogam carries Sangsang-gisaeng in the Tree section — mistletoe grown on an old mulberry — with the Korean name given as ppongnamu gyeousari (mulberry mistletoe). It records a neutral nature, a bitter-sweet taste and no toxicity, and says that although every kind of tree carries mistletoe, only the mulberry sort went into medicine. It adds that the true article is very hard to obtain, and gives a test: cut the stem and look for a deep yellow interior, with sticky juice inside the fruit.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
- Main producer Gathered in winter from the broadleaf forests of Northeast China and North China; this accounts for the largest volume in trade.
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Wild population
It grows attached to oaks in mountain forests nationwide and is picked in winter, once the leaves have all fallen. Harvest December, January, February
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- Wild population Found in the broadleaf forests of Honshu and northward.
- Wild population Found in the broadleaf forests of the Russian Far East, such as Primorsky Krai.
The plant found across East Asia is a variety of mistletoe (var. coloratum), whose berries ripen yellow or red. The one common in Europe is a different variety of the same species (var. album), and it is this one that is gathered in France and Britain for winter decoration. Because it is not a tree that anyone plants and grows, and its range simply follows the trees it lives on, there are no cultivation statistics.
- Optimum
- 10~20℃
- Range
- 0~30℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
A semi-parasitic woody plant that keeps its leaves green through the winter. It sinks haustoria (absorbing organs) into the branches of broadleaf trees such as oak and hackberry and draws water and minerals from them, so what decides where it grows is not the soil but the host tree and the climate that host tree can endure.
In Korea Mountain areas
It grows attached to oaks in mountain forests nationwide. It stands out only from December to February, when the leaves have all fallen, and that is when it is picked. Gathering it on someone else's mountain land requires the owner's permission.
How to grow
- Light
- Not a plant that is set out and grown. In a leafless winter wood it shows as a nest-like green clump in the sunny crown of an oak
- Soil and depth
- It puts no roots in the ground. It drives haustoria into another tree's branch and draws water and minerals from there
- Spacing
- Several separate clumps settle on one tree. Birds move the seed, so this is not a plant whose position a person chooses
- Watering
- It is bought dried. Damp brings mould, so keep water away from it
- Feeding
- Nothing is fed. When the host tree weakens, the mistletoe dries out with it
- Harvest
- It becomes visible from December to February once the leaves are down. It sits high, which makes gathering dangerous, and taking it from someone else's woodland needs the owner's permission. Most people buy it ready dried
What makes the difference. Choose stems of a greenish yellow with the leaves intact. Avoid anything blackened or damp, or with fruit still attached
Why this one is harder. Mistletoe cannot be planted and moved. Seed pressed onto a branch usually fails to take, and where it does take, that branch weakens over the following years. Do not deliberately attach it to a garden tree
Common problems
- Mould You will see White dust or blue-green spots on the dried stems, with a damp smell What to do Discard that whole bag. Move the rest into a sealed container and keep it dry
- Bark and twigs mixed in You will see Fragments of host bark and dark twigs at the bottom of the bag What to do Mistletoe stems are a greenish yellow. Pick out anything of a different colour
- Berries left on You will see Shrivelled yellow fruit still attached to the dried stems What to do Strip the berries before use. Do not leave them where a child can reach
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
The old record — sangsanggisaeng (桑上寄生). The Donguibogam lists it in the Tree section as Sangsang-gisaeng (parasite on the mulberry) with the Korean name ppongnamu gyeousari (mulberry mistletoe). It records a neutral nature, a taste both bitter and sweet, and no toxicity. It describes the plant as growing on old mulberry, with leaves like those of a mandarin but thicker and softer and stems like pagoda-tree twigs but stouter and brittle, flowering yellowish-white in the third and fourth months and setting yellow fruit the size of an adzuki bean in the sixth and seventh, all by the lunar calendar. Every kind of tree carries mistletoe, it says, but only the mulberry sort went into medicine, and stem and leaf were gathered on the third day of the third lunar month and dried in the shade. It adds that the true article is very hard to obtain, and that a cut stem deep yellow inside with sticky juice in the fruit was taken as genuine. What an old medical text wrote differs from how it is judged today.
Proteins isolated from mistletoe. Lectins and the peptides known as viscotoxins have been isolated from mistletoe in repeated analyses. The same work reports levels differing with the host tree and the season of gathering. These are compositional analyses and have nothing to do with preventing or treating disease.
Life as a hemiparasite. Mistletoe is classed as a hemiparasite: it photosynthesises with its own leaves while drawing water and minerals from the xylem of its host. Analyses also report leaf composition shifting with the species of host tree. This is a record of ecology and composition.
Nutrition
- Lectins (viscum agglutinin) (distributed in leaf and stem) — sugar-binding proteins isolated from mistletoe
- Viscotoxins (distributed in leaf and young stem) — a group of small peptides reported from mistletoe
- Flavonoids and phenolic acids (distributed in the leaf) — phenolic compounds common in plants
- Mucilage (coats the berry) — a sticky polysaccharide that fixes the seed to a branch
Only the decoction is used Mistletoe leaf and stem are not chewed. The dried material is simmered and only the liquid is drunk. The stems are woody and get lifted out once they have given up their colour. Fix a daily amount and do not brew it stronger than that.
The protein fraction — lectins and viscotoxins Analyses report a lectin called viscum agglutinin and small peptides called viscotoxins isolated from mistletoe. The same work reports levels varying with the host tree and the season of gathering. Being proteins, much of that fraction is denatured during simmering. This entry stays with the compositional record.
Flavonoids and phenolic acids Flavonoids and phenolic acids are found in mistletoe leaves. The pale gold of the decoction and its astringent finish are discussed alongside these compounds. This is what compositional analysis shows and nothing beyond it.
The mucilage in the berry The yellow berries are wrapped in a sticky mucilage, and birds move the seed by wiping their beaks on a branch after eating. That mucilage is a polysaccharide. The berries are not treated as food and are not eaten.
Pairings
○ Starting from cold water — Put dried mistletoe into cold water and bring it up together. Once it boils, drop the heat and hold it gently; when the water turns pale gold, lift the material out. Longer and stronger is not better.
○ Jujube — The decoction leads with bitterness and astringency. Two split jujubes added to the pot bring a sweetness that makes it easier to drink. Add them late and boil them briefly. Jujube
○ Roasted barley or Solomon's seal — If the bitterness is too much, simmer roasted barley or Solomon's seal alongside for a toasted aroma that covers the astringent finish. Once cool, refrigerate and drink within the day. Barley
△ The berries are not eaten — Mistletoe berries are not treated as food. Stomach pain and vomiting have been reported after eating them, and their bright colour makes them easy for a child to pick up. If branches come in with fruit attached, strip the berries before drying.
△ Climbing to gather it — Mistletoe sits high in large trees. Winter branches are frozen and snap easily, and falls while gathering it happen again and again. Taking forest produce from someone else's woodland requires the landowner's permission.
△ On medication or pregnant — Mistletoe has long been handled as a medicinal material, and part of what analysis finds in it is protein. Anyone on medication, pregnant or nursing should not drink it strong and daily even as tea. Tell the treating clinician what is being taken.
△ Confusion with Korthalsella — The mistletoe that attaches to southern evergreens, Korthalsella, belongs to another genus and is reduced to jointed stems with no leaves. Tell them apart by the leaves: true mistletoe carries broad paired leaves. If the identity is not certain, do not gather it.
Varieties
- Oak mistletoe (gathered) — Growing on oaks. The commonest one to catch the eye on a hillside
- Mulberry mistletoe (gathered) — What the Donguibogam singled out as 桑上寄生, meaning the kind grown on mulberry
- Red-berried mistletoe (gathered) — A form whose fruit ripens red rather than yellow. It grows on Jeju
- Korthalsella (gathered) — A mistletoe of another genus, reduced to jointed stems with the leaves gone. It attaches to southern evergreens
Source: Donguibogam, Tree Section 桑上寄生 · Korea National Arboretum species information system