Latin Texts & Translations

There are three varieties of the mistletoe. ^[Note] That which grows upon the fir and the larch has the name of ^[Note] stelis in Eubœa; and there is the hyphear ^[Note] of Arcadia. It grows also upon the quercus, ^[Note] the robur, the holm-oak, the wild plum, and the terebinth, but upon no other tree. ^[Note] It is most plentiful of all upon the quercus, and is then known as "adasphear." In all the trees, with the exception of the holmoak and the quercus, there is a considerable difference in its smell and pungency, and the leaf of one kind has a disagreeable odour; both varieties, however, are sticky and bitter. The hyphear is the best for fattening ^[Note] cattle with; it begins, however, by purging off all defects, after which it fattens all such animals as have been able to withstand the purging. It is generally said, however, that those animals which have any radical malady in the intestines cannot withstand its drastic effects. This method of treatment is generally adopted in the summer for a period of forty days.

Besides the above, there is yet another difference ^[Note] in the mistletoe; that which grows upon the trees which lose their leaves, loses its leaves as well; while, on the other hand, that which grows upon evergreens always retains its leaves. In whatever way the seed may have been sown, it will never come to anything, unless it has been first swallowed ^[Note] and

then voided by birds, the wood-pigeon more particularly, and the thrush: such being the nature of the plant, that it will not come to anything unless the seed is first ripened in the crop of the bird. It never exceeds a single cubit in height, and is always green and branchy. The male ^[Note] plant is fruitful, the female barren; sometimes, indeed, the male even bears no berry.