Why mistletoe is thriving, even as its traditional orchards are lost

By Adele Julier, Senior Lecturer in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Portsmouth

Mistletoe is a richly symbolic winter plant with an unusual life cycle. With more than half of England’s traditional orchards lost since the mid-20th century, it would be easy to assume mistletoe is disappearing too. But that’s not the case. Despite dramatic changes in land use, mistletoe in Britain and Ireland is not in decline – and in some places it may even be spreading.

Mistletoe is a name used for a variety of different plants across the world, but in Britain it generally…

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