Description
A hemi-parasitic evergreen shrub that grows in rounded clumps on the branches of host trees, with paired leathery leaves and sticky white berries.
Medicinal Uses
In its native temperate range this species is used in traditional and complementary medicine for hypertension, arthritis, and epilepsy, and fermented extracts are used as an adjunct cancer therapy; the berries are toxic if eaten. Note: Viscum album is native to temperate Europe and Asia, so the mistletoe locally known by this name may be a related African species rather than true Viscum album — species identity should be treated as uncertain.
Cultivation
Not cultivated — spreads naturally when birds carry its sticky seeds to new host tree branches.
