Where is all the miseltoe.
 

I never see it any more. Can you buy it from somewhere now days?:confused: I need some.

I'm having fun just imagining what you need it for. :)

he, he, he. maybe there was a drought!!

Because the berries can be poisonous, maybe many have eliminated it from the celebrations. If you know anyone with a weapon and live rurally, you can have it shot out of many trees. :)

Jan in VA

I haven't seen any real mistletoe for years. The last years that I did see it they replaced the berries with plastic beads. Now all I can find is plastic or silk sprigs.

I live in eastern Oklahoma we have it all over our trees out here. But I haven't seen it in stores in a long time.

I used to see it at Christmas tree lots, but we've had a fake tree now for 6 or 7 years so I haven't been to a tree lot in a while.

Do tell, what do you need real mistletoe for? *wink, wink*

It's another one of those "OMG It's poisonous" things. "Get rid of it" trumps "be careful".

I think you can buy it at the florist.

it's parasitic, so when you finally get rid of it, people don't want to regrow it. how about the fake stuff for reasons stated above.

If you have an oak tree nearby, look up.......:)

That is where my brother found some for me years ago. He shimmied up the tree and grabbed a huge bundle of it.

We have lots of it in trees almost everywhere, both huge and small bunches.

When we were in Kentucky a couple weeks ago, we saw trees loaded with mistletoe. Brought back many memories.

Well girls and boys, I know it is a fungus and you see it in trees from time to time. My Grandson will be 18 yrs of age on Jan1st and he was looking for some. He has a girl friend. I would like some also because My dh and I will have an anniversary on Dec. 30th. I want to hang some in the hall way and hope for kisses under the fungus. I live in Arizona and I guess it is too dry around here for fungus and moss. When I see Moss anywhere I say "look there is some Moss".

Today I learned that misletoe grows on trees...never knew that before. Any particular kind of tree?

We have lots of it growing in our trees and around the area. However it is at the very top of the trees.

Well I certainly have learned a lot about mistletoe. first it is in trees, second may be poison related, third it's not available alive in shopping stores......wow! my vow to learn something new every day is surpassed by this board.

Oh the memories of my brother trying to shoot mistletoe out of the tree with his bb gun. Can you imagine today's kids playing around like that. We were entertained for days.

I have always seen it on Oak trees.

I grew up in So. Tex where mistletoe was prevalent in mesquite trees. I have seen it in some other kinds of trees, but not in abundance. It is a parasite and will kill the host tree if left to spread. We had a tree inside the pasture in front of our house. It was pretty when I was a kid, but when I was last home in the early 2000's it was all but dead. It was the only tree that had so much in it on our place. My parents and one sister are gone now, but my younger sister still lives in the area and I have moved to SW Iowa to be with my only child and grandchildren and am now at least a 1,000 miles from the old home place. I lived 53 years in Oklahoma and my next door neighbor got several bunches of mistletoe in an ornamental tree (just a few years old) and it had at least 3 bunches in it before it was cut down by new neighbors.

If I'm not mistaking, there was a time that the mistletoe that we used to pick for our holiday cheer was once so over collected that it became scarce and then artificial flowers became popular and so there was no more profit to be made. There are many species of mistletoe, about 1300 world wide. The last I heard about the state of mistletoe was that it is considered an endangered species in NJ, USA, and can not be gathered except when it is on your private property. I don't know about other states.

The tradition is to shoot it out of trees with a shot gun. That may be another reason why it has become scarce.

Hope this is just enough info for you. Mistletoe is a very interesting plant. Many animals eat it and nest in it when the plants become big enough.

peace

@ sewingsuz, post #15, Mistletoe is a parasite, not a fungus, just to keep the knowledge we are learning correct.

I do also think that being poisonous could be one other reason stores stopped selling it. The berries are easily popped off the plant and into tiny mouths.

peace and kisses to all.

Well, when I was little I ate a couple of the berries. I don't remember being about to die. LOL My cousin told my aunt I ate some hoping to get me in trouble. I don't remember a fuss being made of it. It grows in the oak trees here. Sometimes DH will bring home a branch of it when he goes hunting.

We just paid big $$ to have it removed from our Raywood Ash trees (4) in California. It is spread by the birds, they eat the berries from one tree and poop on other trees. Our neighbor had his trees pruned last year to remove the mistletoe from his trees. You can't totally remove it from a branch, you have to cut the branch off. My brother worked for the city of Sacramento taking care of their trees.

I just read a quip about mistletoe today.
"What is this strange tradition of kissing under a poisonous plant?" When you think about it that way......

Found out there are several kinds of mistletoe. Some are very toxic, some are not. Usually cats are the ones that will eat it.

Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
Blame the Greeks and ancient history, natch. :)
http://www.history.com/news/ask-hist...-the-mistletoe

It is a a parasite and the birds carry it from tree to tree. It is a protected species in Oklahoma so once it starts in a tree you cannot get rid of it. It eventually sucks the life out of the tree.

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*** It is still in our Oak trees in the South.
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*** Thanks to the birds for spreading it.
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