We all know the tradition of hanging Mistletoe over your door at Christmas time , the Greeks and earlier peoples thought that it had mystical powers. Well did you also know that Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on the stems of tree's ? It gets into the vascular system of the tree limb and absorbs all the water and nutrients meant for the survival of that limb. If left unchecked it could kill the host limb that it is on. In the winter when the tree has no leaves or very little is the best time to spot this pesky parasite .
It will stand out as a bright green ball of what looks like to be foliage but in reality it is literally sucking the life out of the tree. Once it gets a hold of a limb it does not want to let go, and digs in and extends its little roots along the host limb. So eradicating this parasite usually cannot be done at one time , but over a few annual trimmings . I have seen mistletoe cling on to many different types of trees, so it is not contained to one specie and is usually spread by birds or other animals.
After the mistletoe is removed from the infected limb it is a good idea to cover the wound with a thick plastic to keep the mistletoe from getting exposed to light because as I was saying the roots of this parasite are still inside the limb so even when you cut the part of it that is on the surface, It is still alive underneath and will continue to grow if it is exposed to sunlight , One of the ways I cover the wound is to spray the area that has been cut with a product called tree paint that you can buy at any hardware store . It has chemicals in it that's hinder regrowth and will block out the light from the sun and stop photosynthesis from taking place in that spot.
Mistletoe berries are poisonous to cats and other small animals. There is , however , some debate about how toxic the berries are to humans, and there is controversy about whether it is safe to use mistletoe as a remedy . Mistletoe is also known as mystyldene, all - heal, bird lime, golden bough, and devil's fuge.
Other contemporary uses of mistletoe include treatment of rheumatism, anxiety, migraine headaches , dizziness, high blood pressure, relief of spasms, asthma, raid heartbeat, diarrhea, hysteria, and amenorrhea. its also being researched on the use of mistletoe to treat Aids patients.
So in short though its a pretty little bush around every Christmas and it does have some Medicinal properties in it. It is still considered a parasite and is to be considered as such when it comes to dealing with it in your trees. So if you spot this parasite in your tree's I highly recommend that if you want to keep your trees healthy and stop the spread of mistletoe throughout your trees to call Beechnut tree service and have us put your trees on a plan of recovery of your trees health. Mistletoe throughout the tree like the picture above will surely cause your tree to not have a very healthy and long life .
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