i
ii
Leaves s ira /e , oppo/te. exstipulate, sub-evergreen ; entire. Flowers large
white. — A large shrub or low tree. Himalayas. Culture as in Córnus.
¥ 1 . B. f r a g C f e r a Lindl. The Strawberryffiearing ifirtef/jj-..*. Benthamia rTi__
Chung-wa, in
Engraoings Bot. Keg., 1 1679.'; Hort. Trans.. 2d series, l . t . 17.. and our Jig. 924.
Spec. Char., f r . Branches spreading, smooth.
Leaves lanceolate, acnminaced at both ends, on
short petioles, rather rough with small ’ad-
pressed down. Flowers sessile, densely aggregate,
forming a round head girded by a 4-leaved
scabrous involucrum. (Doris Mill.) A large i
sub-evergreen shrub or low tree. Nepal in
Gossainthan. Lleight 10 ft. to 15. ft. Introduced
in 1825. Flowers large, yellowish white:
■liine. Frmt large, about the size of that o fth e
common arbutus, reddish; ripe in October-
y/lowish white within, not unpleasant to eat
Young shoots whitish green.
Rather tender in the climate of London, though
in some parts of Cornwall: perhaps it iiiiffit be ren.
from s e ? ? ? Au«?gs,"Ld r f ? t e f t A ? T n ‘w m y ? f l f ? e p " t7 j l f ? ^
BcnthanAa japónica is figured by Stobüdt (t. 16.), and is probably hardy.
O r d e r X X X I X . L O R A N T H A 'C E j E .
Ord. Char. Calyx calyciilate, entire or lobed. Petals 4—8 distinct or co
Ü M S P I
’ I ucixcauiiai. £iUr<
1 n f ì h f l r n v lin - n o r v n c ' ; ___ ! .. 1 -I ■ .
Loránthus,
e t a r ? ™ f ò ? g , t e a r " , T e f l r d ” Margin of calyx
G e n u s I .
r r S C U M L .
IAe„„Jica.icn. Tourn. Ins,., p. 609. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 277., Don's Mill.,3. p. 409
X X X IX , l o r a n t h a ' c E jE : n ' s c u M . 5 0 9
Synonymes. Misseldine, Gui, or Guy, Fr. ; Misti, or Missel, Ger. ; Visco, or Vischio, Ital. : Lega-
inodoga. Span.
Dei-ivatwn. Viscas, or viscum, is the Latin for birdlime, which is made from the berries; and
Mistletoe is by some supposed to be derived from mist, the German word for dung, or slimy dirt,
and by others from mislelta, the Saxon name for the plant.
Gen. Char. Calyx a slight border in the male flowers, more evident in the
female. Corolla in the male flowers gamopetalous, in 4 deep, ovate, acute,
equal divisions ; in the female flower of 4 ovate, equal, deciduous petals.
Anthei-s in the female flowers none; in the male flower 4, compressed. Ovarium
ovate. Stigma sessile. Berry globular. (Don’s Mill.)
icaiira simple, opposite, rarely alternate, exstipulate, evergreen; undivided,
entire, rigid. Flowers in fascicles or spikes, greenish. Berries white.
— An evergreen shrub, parasitical on trees. Europe; in Britain, England.
^ 1. V. aTrum I j . The white^viàc«, or common. Mistletoe.
Identification. Lin. Sp.,1451.; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 277. ; Don’s Mill,, 3. p .403.
Engravi7igs. N. Du Ham., 1, t. 115. ; Eng. Bot., t. 1470. ; Baxt. Brit. PI., t. 40. ; .and our fig. 925
which exhibits a portion of a male plant, marked in, and of a female plant in fruit, marked/.
Spec. Char., Stem much branched, forked ; with sessile intermediate
heads, of about 5 flowers. Branches terete. Leaves obovate-lanceolate,
obtuse, nerveless. ( I J o j i 's M¿/¿ ) A parasitical shrub, forming a confused
tuft of branches with a yellowish green aspect. Europe and England, on
trunks and branches of trees, most frequent on -Kosiicem. Height 2 ft. to
3 ft. Flowers greenish yellow ; May. Berry white; ripe in December.
The leaves vary considerably in different plants, as may
be seen in fig. 926., which contains engravings of three
different specimens. The durability of the plant is very
great ; for, when once established on a tree, it is seldom
known to cease growing while the tree is in life ; but,
when it dies, or the branch on which it is rooted decays,
or becomes diseased, the death of the mistletoe immediately
follows. 'Ihe trees on which the mistletoe
grows belong to various natural orders ; and, indeed, it
would be difficult to say on what dicotyledonous trees
it will not grow'. In England, it is found on Yiliacem,
925. V. álbiiin.
.éJccràcese, Rosàcese, Cupulíferae, ¿"alicaceae, Oleáceas, and, we believe, also
on Coníferse. I t is found on the oak at Eastnor Castle (see Gard.
Mag., vol. xiii. p. 206.) ; and in the neighbourhood of Magdeburg w'e saw
it growing in immense quantities on Pinus sylvéstris in 1814. In France, it
grows on trees of all the natural orders mentioned, but least frequently on the
oak. It does not grow on the olive in France, though it abounds on tlie
almond. In Spain, it grows on the olive; as it does in the neighbourhood
of Jerusalem ; and, in the latter locality, is found the variety with red fruit,
wliich is perhaps a Loránthus.
The mistletoe is propagated by the berries being, by some means or other,
made to adhere to the bark of a living tree. The common agency by
which this is effected is supposed to be that of birds; and more especially
of the missel thrush, which, after having satisfied itself by eating the berries,
wipes off'such of them as may adhere to the outer part of its beak, by nibbing
it against the branch of the tree on which it has alighted; and some of the
seeds are thus left sticking to the bark. If the bark should be smooth, and not
much indurated, the seeds will germinate, and root into it the following spring ;
that is, supposing them to have been properly fecundated by the proximity
of a male plant to the female one which produced them. The first indication
of germination is the appearance of one or more radicles, like the sucker of
a house fly, but larger; as at h i, in fig. 926., which are front views, and at
k I in the same figure, which are side views, taken from mistletoe berries,
which were stuck on the upright trunk of a cherry tree in our garden at
Bayswater, in March, 1836, and germinated there, as they appeared on the
20th of May of the same year. When the white, viscous, pulpy matter of the
mistletoe berry is removed, the kernel, or seed, appears of a greenish colour, and