Native mistletoe blossoms as positive parasite across mainland Australia
By Toby Hemmings
ABC Central West
Topic:Native Species
18m ago18 minutes agoFri 21 Mar 2025 at 11:14pm
A woman in a blue shirt looks up while holding the leaf of a mistletoe.
Tiffany Mason inspects one of the many varieties of native mistletoe found around central west NSW. (ABC Central West: Toby Hemmings)
For most people, mistletoe conjures images of wintry Christmas kissing traditions rather than the rich Australian landscape.
In Australia, mistletoe varieties have often been overlooked or treated as burdensome parasites leeching off native trees.
But Tiffany Mason, a senior ecologist with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust in the state's central west, said the plant's reputation was unjustified.
"A friend of mine admitted to me that as a farm manager, he was a mistletoe shooter,"
she said.
"After I dragged my friend around the bush and pointed out all the benefits of mistletoe to him, he's totally converted."
Mistletoe Down Under
Mistletoe is a hemiparasite, meaning it carries out photosynthesis of its own while latching onto the roots and shoots of another plant.
A tree with an upright shoot and a drooping attached mistletoe.
Native mistletoe, seen drooping on the right of this eucalypt, is considered a sign of ecological health in forests. (ABC Central West: Toby Hemmings)
There are nearly 100 varieties of mistletoe across Australia that come in all different shapes and sizes.
They can appear to be free-standing trees while seeking out neighbouring root systems, droop from high branches, or mimic the trees they attach to.
Tiffany Mason, wearing blue shirt and hat, looks into the distance.
Ms Mason says mistletoe is under-appreciated and unrecognised. (ABC Central West: Toby Hemmings)
The plant is moved exclusively by birds who eat the berries of the mistletoe plants.
"Most of them will get up high using a bird to deposit the seed," Ms Mason said.
"A mistletoe bird will pluck a berry, gobble it down and then half an hour later, if it lands on a branch, the seed will go through its gut."
From these sticky seeds, tendrils will quickly emerge to latch onto the host plant.
The tendril from a mistletoe attaching to a branch.
The tendril from a mistletoe attached to a branch. (Supplied: Tiffany Mason)
Love potions and good luck
Farmers and landholders have often viewed the parasite as a pest trying to kill their trees.
But mistletoe has sacred connotations in other parts of the world.
Pagan cultures in Europe viewed the plant as bringing fertility and love when used in potions, as well as being a symbol of good luck, prosperity and peace.
Charles Sturt University professor David Watson is a world expert on mistletoe ecology.
He said many of those myths stemmed from the mistletoe's hardy ability to survive during cold, dark European winters.
"It's bitterly cold, snow on the ground, deciduous trees have dropped all their leaves and there is a freaking green sprout up there against the sky," Dr Watson said.
"That's got to be divine."
Black and red insect sits on Australian mistletoe.
About 100 native varieties of mistletoe can be found across mainland Australia. (Supplied: Charles Sturt University)
Mistletoe can also carry cultural significance for different Indigenous cultures across Australia, with the sweet sticky berries often referred to as snotty gobble.
"There's lots of stories, some of which I can't know because it's women's business," Dr Watson said.
"For the Noongar people in Western Australia, the mistletoe that grows there is their most sacred plant."
An ecological Robin Hood
Over the past decades, a greater understanding of mistletoe has vindicated that element of the sacred surrounding the plant.
The research of Dr Watson and others has found that mistletoe serves as an ecological hub.
It's constantly transpiring cool leaves to attract animals during hot conditions, while the thick and shady base clump can provide a nesting site for native birds.
Mistletoe also acts as a Robin Hood figure in the ecosystem, robbing from nutrient-rich trees and giving to beetles and bugs through phosphorous-rich leaf droppings.
"They're a dripping tap of high nutrients through their leaf litter," Dr Watson said.
A man in outback Australia wearing a hat and holding a mistletoe
David Watson is an international expert on mistletoe ecology. (Supplied: David Watson)
The revised reputation has led to more people seeding mistletoe on plants in their backyard to encourage biodiversity.
Dr Watson said more people were now aware that mistletoe is native to Australia and of its many benefits.
But he said people still struggled with the idea that a parasite could be positive.
"We have this deep-seated distrust of parasites. If your kids have parasites, they're no longer welcome at day care,"
Dr Watson said.
"There are far more parasites on Earth than non-parasitic animals. Most of them do it in subtle ways that have very little effect on their hosts.
"They want to just sneak under the radar for a free lunch."
Posted18m ago18 minutes agoFri 21 Mar 2025 at 11:14pm, updated13m ago13 minutes agoFri 21 Mar 2025 at 11:18pm
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