Look closely: That white-circled growth emerging from the branch of a young balsam fir tree usually is called a “witch’s broom,” but if you cut it off and hang it in your house at this time of the year, it likely would be called a “kissing ball.” It’s a specimen of Maine’s only native mistletoe, Eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum).
All of the hundreds of species of mistletoe are nasty, parasitic plants that kill or maim the trees that they invade by depriving their hosts of nutrients and water. Nonetheless, many cultures historically associated the penetrating plants with sexual attraction, love, marriage, fertility, and curative powers.
The love and marriage powers of mistletoe were taken seriously by many in England at least through Victorian times. At that time, an unwed woman standing under mistletoe was expected to be kissed on the cheek by the first man noticing her and the man was supposed to remove a mistletoe berry while doing so – one kiss, one berry. If the woman refused a kiss, it was expected that she would not receive a marriage proposal for at least a year.
Thanks to plant expert Val Libby of Blue Hill, Maine, for the identification help. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 10, 2023.)