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Does Mistletoe Have Any Place In Permaculture?

 
Dean Howard
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...or is it just a bad apple all the way around? I'm sure God made it for a reason... Anybody?

~ Permaculture is enriching...Farming... is just scratching the surface ~

 
John Suavecito
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Mistletoe is very prominent in European anti-cancer treatments. It has proven to be quite effective, but this is one where you really need to be absolutely careful. IMO , DIY doesn't work here unless you are a qualified lab scientist or health professional because the level proves the poison in mistletoe. The problem is that American doctors don't want to use it because it doesn't have the guaranteed patented economic profits of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, although it is probably much cheaper and much more effective. I think it's the European version that is used.
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Tracy Kuykendall
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I've heard of poisoning dangers of mistletoe, but I also know that deer in my area eat it with much enthusiasm, it's an important food source for wildlife in this region. I'm not smart enough to know how to incorporate it into your permaculture plan, but that's what I know about mistletoe.
 
Joseph Lofthouse
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In the worst case scenario, the biodiversity of a forest with mistletoe growing in it is greater (by at least one species) than a forest without.

In the real world, mistletoe produces pollen, nectar, and seeds which feed birds, animals, and microbes, perhaps at different times of the year than the host plant. That leads to a vast improvement in biodiversity because with mistetoe in a forest it's easier for many more species to find food and avoid starving. The wood eating fungi don't care if a dead-fall was a parasite. Biomass is biomass regardless of the mechanism by which it was created.

The snags produced by mistletoe are very useful for shelter and nesting by insects, birds, and mammals. Again leading to increased biodiversity.

Birds attracted to mistletoe berries or nesting sites leave manure behind, thus increasing the fertility around the host tree.

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Dale Hodgins
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It is a very important indicator of overall ecosystem health. Birds nest in it and they eat the berries.

One of my customers has hundreds of clumps in a large, messy grove of plums. I asked her if they pick them all. They don't, so it was decided to do nothing. She prefers to have the wildlife.
 
Dean Howard
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WOW, thanks everyone... I really had no idea. Here in NE Arizona, it tends to be found in nearly every juniper tree. I'm dropping and chopping lots of branches and wondered if I should be keeping the mistletoe or getting rid of it. Great news on the cancer front, too.

~ Permaculture is enriching...Farming... is just scratching the surface ~

 
Crt Jakhel
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Here's an interesting use of mistletoe - for a grappa infusion

-- Wisdsom pursues me but I run faster.

 
Michael Cox
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Mistletoe is used in traditional christmas decorations here in the UK. For people who don't have access to land with mistletoe to harvest, it is sold in the lead up to christmas at what seems like an extortionate price. If I had a plum orchard with lots of mistletoe I'd be viewing it is a possible income stream.

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Tyler Ludens
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Kids used to climb up in the trees and harvest mistletoe to sell at Christmas time.  Probably not too many places where kids do that anymore.  Do they even climb trees these days? (I was never a good tree climber but my sister was a monkey!)

Idle dreamer

 
Joy Oasis
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Herbalist Michael Castleman writes, that mistletoe toxicity is way overstated, and recommends 5 drops of homemade tincture to regulate blood pressure and help the heart. I actually was able to find some a few days ago in our farmers market sold as decorations (from the pomegranate tree), so I got a few sprigs and making some tincture. I tasted a leaf, and it is a bit sour. How much I understand, berries have the most alkaloids. Single drop amounts of tincture made from twigs and leaves are okay. People have used mistletoe medicinally for thousands of years.
 
Joy Oasis
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Tracy Kuykendall wrote:I've heard of poisoning dangers of mistletoe, but I also know that deer in my area eat it with much enthusiasm, it's an important food source for wildlife in this region. I'm not smart enough to know how to incorporate it into your permaculture plan, but that's what I know about mistletoe.


This is very interesting, that deer eats it. Do you think they eat it only in small amounts as a medicine or as food?
 
Mick Fisch
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Normally, I'm not really a fan of parasites, but it seems to me that I used to see goats up in trees, eating mistletoe back when I lived on the res, years ago.

Best use, as mentioned above in the thread, is probably to pick it and sell it to drunken, horny tourists who can use it to have an excuse to kiss people.

 
William Bronson
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So,  how hard is make a dart it arrow out of the stuff?
I might have a use for such thing....

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Erik van Lennep
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Today being the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere seems a good time to note that the mistletoes comprise  a large family, with different species (even genera) specializing in growing on a wide range of trees, and for certain, different species in the USA and Europe. It stands to reason then that their chemistry will also differ. Be very careful not to presume that European herbal lore and applications can be applied to US mistletoe. (I did read many years ago something about opposite effects on blood pressure, for instance).

Know.Your. Plants!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistletoe

"I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am.I know that I am not a category.I am not a thing—a noun.I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe."
Buckminster Fuller

 
Harmony Dybala
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William Bronson wrote: So,  how hard is make a dart it arrow out of the stuff?
I might have a use for such thing....



Why, is there a legendary and particularly beautiful warrior having too much fun showing off his invincibility in your neck of the woods?

"[6] Let the people, O God, confess to Thee: let all the people give praise to Thee: [7] The earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us, [8] May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear Him." (Psalms 66/67)

 
Sunny Baba
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Thanks, Erik for warning folks about the difference in mistletoe species. When someone from the Uk talks about mistletoe, it IS NOT the same species as American mistletoe.  
From what I have learned, American mistletoe ( common species Phoradendron) is far less toxic than the European (common species viscum album). They have both been used for medicinal purposes, but one needs to be very careful!

On the other hand, my goats go absolutely crazy over it when we are walking in the woods! If they can reach it they will fight over a patch and even climb into the tree to get to it. If it's too high for them to reach they will stand there waiting for me to pull it down for them ( and jump all over me if I take too long to get to it!) At first I was leery about letting them eat it, knowing that it can be toxic in humans. But eventually, I had to trust their instincts and because they are well fed and have a lot of variety, I know they are not eating it because they are starving! Mistletoe is right up there with their most favourite wild foods.
So, in my world, yes, mistletoe does have a place in permaculture!
 
Erik van Lennep
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Sunny Baba wrote:Thanks, Erik for warning folks about the difference in mistletoe species........
On the other hand, my goats go absolutely crazy over it when we are walking in the woods!  



Then again, they also relish poison ivy....
And deer will make a quick lunch out of yew foliage that would destroy most farm animals.

"I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am.I know that I am not a category.I am not a thing—a noun.I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe."
Buckminster Fuller

 
Kim Huse
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Re: This is very interesting, that deer eats it. Do you think they eat it only in small amounts as a medicine or as food?

Well, it would seem to me that they are eating something that they need; as part of their over all diet; we all know that there is a wasting disease that  some deer populations get; what if certain  plants, like mistletoe are what is eaten to  purge their systems of those diseases? Has anyone looked at what are considered poisonous plants  for us, that native animal populations  do eat, as part of their natural diets, that could relate to eliminating the harmful diseases? Anyone know?

We are what we eat. The same is true of the animals that share our planet,  Take away something that we need to be healthy, and  we end up with diseases that we normally would not have otherwise. The same thing would hold true for animals, too.

Deer and goats are ruminants and  evolved to eat  things we humans can not ever hope to eat and live.

 
Ela La Salle
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In nature, even the "bad apples" have their place. I know nothing of mistletoe if I tripped over any

 
Dan Fish
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Biochar.

Fish heads fish heads roly poly fish heads

 
Gina Jeffries
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https://ivorytowers.jimdofree.com/2015/02/04/mistletoe-or-homeopathic-viscum-album-a-potent-cancer-treatment/

Do what you want, but don't hurt yourself and don't hurt anyone else

 
Rebecca Blake
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I was wondering about mistletoe... will it destroy the host tree? My land is new to me so I haven’t gotten much done on it but I do want to make sure I give the oaks more room to breathe and grow strong... and unfortunately a mistletoe found a home on top of one of them

Is it absolutely necessary I cut it off ASAP like I was advised or is it alright staying for a bit? (I don’t have the resources readily available to cut it down as it is very up high)
 
Carmen Rose
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I hate to be a wet blanket but this is first hand experience - My nephew nearly died from ingesting just a part of a mistletoe leaf. He was a toddler and the doctor found it in his stomach when they pumped it. Truly - he nearly died. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole and I wouldn't have it in my house as decoration. I don't know the difference between kinds but my, or my kid's lives are worth more than that.
 
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