Mistletoe has fascinated me since I was a child. At first, its charm was purely mythological – I spent many years obsessing over the European Christmas traditions I was missing out on by having a midsummer yuletide in subtropical Australia. Mistletoe, holly wreaths, snow angels, and warm eggnog – these things didn’t exist in my sweaty Queensland Christmases. It wasn’t until I was much older that I learned what a remarkable plant mistletoe is, and found out that it grew in Australia (as does holly, albeit as a weed!). I was beside myself. I still remember my excitement the first time I saw a mistletoe plant, flowing serenely off a eucalypt branch in the Bunya Mountains, like a leafy green waterfall suspended in mid-air. Continue reading →