During the Christmas season mistletoe can be seen as an attention seeking decoration and in tops of oaks and other hardwood trees that have shed their leaves. Norman Winter explains that the use of ...

You might steal a kiss under its green branches, but in nature, mistletoe is a parasitic plant that attaches to and steals nutrients from trees.

Mistletoes evolved the ability to grow not on the roots of trees, but instead on their branches. Frankie Angel / Alamy Baldur, grandson of the Norse god Thor, woke up one morning certain that each and ...