mistletoe (tle as el)

[A. S. misteltán; Icel. misteltein; Dut, mistelboom; Dan., Sw., Ger. mistel, from Ger. mist manure, dirt, mist, fog; the element toe is believed by Skeat to be A. S. tan =a twig.] Bot.: Viscum album, a plant parasitic on the apple and other fruit trees, on the thorn, the oak, the poplar, the lime, the ash, . It sometimes kills the branch or even the tree on which it is a parasite. It occurs as a yellow-green glabrous pendent bush, one to four feet long, with the fibers of the roots insinuated into the wood of the tree on which it preys; its branches dichotomous, knotted; its leaves, one to three, glabrous; its flowers in threes, inconspicuous, green; its berries globose or ovoid, yellow, viscid. Found in the United States, also in Europe and the north of Asia. The United States mistletoe differs from that found in Europe in the fact that it has much broader leaves. Its botanical name is Phoradendron flavescens. In the Middle Ages the mistletoe was believed to be of use in epilepsy, a view since abandoned. Bird-lime (q.v.) is made from the berries. It was deemed sacred by the Druids, and still finds a large market in this country and England when preparation is being made for Christmas festivities and sports (11). Ki ing under the mistletoe: Scand in avian Mythol .: The wicked spirit, Loki, hated Balder, the favorite of the gods, and, making an arrow of mistletoe, gave it to Hader, the god of darkne and himself blind. to test. He shot the arrow and killed Balder. He was restored to life, and the mistletoe given to the godde of love to keep, every one pa ing under it receiving a ki as a proof that it was an emblem of love, and not of death. ( Brewer .) mist-like, a. [English mist, and like.] Resem. bling a mist, like a mist. "The breath of heart-sick groans Mist like infold me from the search of eyes." Shakesp.: Romeo and Juliet , iii. 3. mis-töld, pa.par.ora. (MISTELL.] mis-took, pret. & pa. par. of v. [MISTAKE, v.] mis-tra-di-tion, s. [Pref. mis- , and Eng. tradition (q. v.).] Wrong tradition. mis-train', *mys-trayn, v. t. [Pref. mis-, and Eng. train, v. (q. v.)] To train wrongly or badly.