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The European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) is somewhat of an aristocrat
among Europe's blossoming plants.
It keeps its distance from the realm of the soil and gravitation by
growing on trees. Mistletoe has no roots and grows in the form of
spherical bushes. Its gestalt has, as it were, no top or bottom -
it seems hardly connected to its surroundings.
Mistletoe blooms and bears its fruit in winter, a time when the life
of most other plants is withdrawn from the face of the earth, resting
in seeds, tubers, or bulbs beneath the ground. Viscum Album seeds
never touch down on the ground but are dispersed by birds.
To some extent, the development of its plant form is restrained. Resembling
mere shoots, the appearance of its leaves is basic and simple. Its
blossoms are undifferentiated and inconspicuous. Its fruit are not
real berries but result from a transformation that occurs on its stems
(sham berries). As an evergreen perennial it does not lignify.
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