Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

The American mistletoe is a parasitic plant that is associated to two things. 1. Copping kisses at Christmastime and 2. poison. Every December these two notions about the berried twigs fly around, but only one is true. Yes, standing under the mistletoe might land you a few wet ones, but if you happen to ingest the stuff--as a decoration or in the wild--you won’t die. Okay, maybe you’ll get an upset stomach, but that’s about it. This vital information comes from a recent study by two physicians out of Pittsburgh. Their findings, however, apply to the American mistletoe only, not the more toxic European Viscum album. To be on the safe side, I'd still keep all mistletoe out of the reach of children and ABSOLUTELY out the reach of animals, as is advised by the ASPCA.  Via enature.com.

American mistletoe courtesy of delawarewildflowers.org.

• mistletoe
• poisionous_plants