I've always been told that seeds from the mistletoes you can buy around #Christmas are no longer able to germinate because they are kept in dark during transportation.

Well, four years ago I decided to challenge that claim: I bought a mistletoe twig in a local nursery and “sowed” the seeds on a Japanese cherry tree resp. a young willow in my garden.

Result: While lots and lots of the seeds germinated, only a few of the seedlings survived the first year after germination, and fewer still made it past the cotyledon stage.

Here, four years later, I have three mistletoes on the cherry tree: a smaller one and a bigger one (the latter is a pair of twins, actually), and a really tiny one on the willow. Please see the attached pictures.

The tiny mistletoe on the willow seems to be having a hard time. It's still a tiny seedling only. I guess it doesn't approve of the host species.

The mistletoes on the cherry tree, on the other hand, seem to be thriving, although it took three years for the first real leaves to appear, so I've had to be very patient.

Apparently twin embryos are very common in mistletoe (i.e., Viscum album), but only one survived in my garden.

We ought to challenge superstitious beliefs.

/cc [ @plants | #mistletoe | #Viscum | #Santalaceae | #gardening ]