Okefenokee Oak Mistletoe

Okefenokee Photography by William Wise. A nature photo journal exploration of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, the Land of Trembling Earth, one of the largest blackwater swamps in North America. The alligators, birds, snakes and wildlife of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Stephen C Foster State Park. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

Oak Mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum, is a hemiparasitic plant native to the United States and Mexico that lives in the branches of trees. Mistletoe is used as a Christmas decoration. Photographed in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Mixon`s Hammock on Suwannee River. May 2020.

A large clump of thick green leaves sits high in otherwise bare tree. The thick glossy leaves growing are completely unlike the normal foliage furled out by that tree in the spring. This makes Mistletoe easy to spot, especially in the winter. Its parasitic nature - stealing water and nutrients from its host – is what earned phoradendron (literally, tree thief) its scientific name.

So what made a parasite become a Christmas decoration? Internet stories about, but the underlying theme is that mistletoe was hung in the house as an icon of good luck. The superstitious belief that it fosters love and friendship may have led to the tradition of kissing beneath the mistletoe.

Each December, my coworker’s children collected mistletoe, tied a red ribbon around small bundles, and sold them to friends, family, coworkers and at Christmas craft fairs to have a bit of Christmas pocket cash. Since the clumps of mistletoe are often high within the trees, I had to inquire where his teenage boys learned how to climb so high. I was then schooled on how southerners in Georgia collected mistletoe: shoot it out of the tree with a shotgun!  

Oak Mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum, is a hemiparasitic plant native to the United States and Mexico that lives in the branches of trees. Mistletoe is used as a Christmas decoration. Photographed in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Mixon`s Hammock on Suwannee River. May 2020.