Extra Potent Magic

I took this photo of an oak tree with mistletoe on our walk on Monday afternoon, then realised we had taken an almost identical photo and posted it on the blog in December. It's amazing what a difference a bit of sunshine can make.

Mistletoe Viscum album is a parasitic woody shrub with leathery blunt tipped leaves. The flowers, such as they are, appear in the early spring, and are followed eventually by sticky white berries early in the wintertime. Legend has it that they are an essential ingredient in Druidic magic, and that the most potent mistletoe is harvested off oak trees (with a golden sickle if Asterix is to be believed) rather than from its more common hosts, apple or poplar.

This week it really has felt like spring is on its way, but we are forecast to have a bit of a setback next week.