Viscum album
Common names
Mistletoe, European mistletoe
Biostatus
Exotic
Conservation status
Not applicable
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Hemi-parasitic evergreen shrub, a metre or more in diameter and a range of host trees and shrubs (see note below). Dioecious. Flowers inconspicuous, green. Fruit a white berry.
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Distribution
It was present locally in the Wairarapa in the vicinity of Masterton & Greytown, but seems to have died out in the early 1970s. (Tom Moss, pers. comm. in 1980s)
Habitat
Barney, C. W., Hawksworth, F. G. and Geils, B. W. (1998) “identified hosts among 452 species, subspecies, varieties, and hybrids in 96 genera of 44 families. Rosaceae has the most hosts with 128 taxa parasitized. Commonly infested genera include Salix, Populus, Acer, Malus, Crataegus, Prunus, Sorbus, Abies, and Pinus.”
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Endemic family
No
Other information
Etymology
album: From the Latin albus ‘white’