Species of the Month: December 2024

Mistletoe: Viscum album

During 2024, our 20th anniversary year, we are revisiting our Species of the Month archive to reshare some of our "greatest hits" through the years. This month we are looking back ten years to December 2014, and the seasonally appropriate Mistletoe. Records in the SEWBReC area have more than doubled from 350 to 760, but there are sure to be many more locations going unrecorded, particularly in Glamorgan where the species is appearing in new locations.

View the 10km distribution here (Wales)

View the 1km distribution here (SEWBReC)

Original text from 2014

A festive species for the run up to Christmas, Mistletoe is surprisingly under recorded with just over 350 records in the SEWBReC database (760 in 2024). The instantly recognisable white berried female plants are traditionally hung in houses as a Christmas decoration, but this species is also easy to spot growing in the wild. As trees lose their leaves, keep an eye out for large ball shape growths in the upper branches. Viscum album is the only european species of Mistletoe, so ID is comparatively easy - a glance through binoculars will confirm the presence of the characteristic leaves and berries.

As a semi-parasitic plant, Mistletoe grows directly on the branches of host trees, and is particularly associated with orchards due to its preference for apple trees, but can also be found in taller trees such as Lime. More information and photos of this species can be found on NatureSpot. You can find the Wales wide distribution map on Aderyn.

If you spot Mistletoe during this winter (or at any other time of year) please send us the record, ideally via SEWBReCORD or the LERC Wales App. Instructions on how to submit records are available here.