Mistletoe – Viscum album
Description of mistletoe:
Viscum album L. (Old or other familiar names: live mistletoe, buttercup, spleenwort, pearl miller) Fakinaceae – Loranthaceae a shrub 20-40 cm tall, several species of which live on forest and fruit tree branches. It most often colonises old ash, apple and hawthorn trees. Its branches are greenish-yellow. Leaves are leathery, spiny-lanceolate and translucent. Flowers are yellowish-pink, borne between forked branches. Yellow flowers appearing in late winter, turning into white berries, semi-transparent, fleshy and saturated with a sticky, semi-transparent paste when ripe. It was a sacred herb of the Celtic people.
Occurrence:
In central Europe as a parasitic plant on trees of apples, pears, etc. In our country, it is found in mountain forests and fruit trees.
Mistletoe
Part to be collected:
The stems of mistletoe, known as stipites Visci, in addition to its wood, known as lignum Visci, which is collected. The constituents of mistletoe leaves (mainly viscotoxins and lectins) has been shown to be toxic! The berries also contain dangerous active substances, which is why mistletoe should only be taken by prescription!
Active ingredients and effects:
Viscin, fatty oil, sugar, viscotoxins, lectins. It is used to treat epilepsy and other spasmodic nervous system disorders, urinary tract disorders and heart disease. Mistletoe is also effective in lowering blood pressure and pulse. It also relieves anxiety and is a great sleeping aid. It is also excellent for relieving asthma attacks, coughs and treating headaches, dizziness and joint pain. Externally it is effective for symptoms of sciatica, gout. Several studies report that the plant lectins in mistletoe have antitumor and anticancer properties and are used in oncological therapies. It has been approved in Germany for the treatment of degenerative and inflamed joints and as a palliative therapy for malignant tumours. The closely related American mistletoe is rarely used in medicine. Both species contain toxic proteins and were used by Native Americans for paralysis, as oral contraceptives and to stop bleeding after childbirth.
Side effects:
Change in pupil size, fever, diarrhea, slow pulse, hallucinations, nausea, seizures and delirium. It should not be taken with sedatives, muscle relaxants, antihypertensives and alcohol.
Harvesting and drying:
Young as well as older stem sets should be dried in the sun or in an attic after collection.
Mistletoe
Cultivation:
There is no need to care for its cultivation because, unfortunately, far more of this parasitic plant, which is so damaging to our trees, is produced than can be used. One of its best propagators is the flycatcher, which feeds on the berries of mistletoe without digesting the seeds and, by shedding its droppings, also promotes its reproduction.
Processing and marketing:
Used in medicine in the form of a decoction. In folk medicine, it is widely used to treat a wide variety of ailments, including hypertension. It is also used to make bird’s milk. Source: Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use, distribution, and marketing Wikipedia
