Did you ever kiss beneath mistletoe? If so, you touched tradition older than the birth of Christ. Historically, there are two theories about how mistletoe came to be a plant used to encourage kissing.

I think it’s likely safe to say we don’t usually think about mistletoe except during the holidays (unless you live in Oklahoma, where it is their state plant). In the 18th century, mistletoe was hung ...

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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- It’s a fun and romantic holiday tradition for some. With a checkered past tied to Norse mythology, murder, fertility, and 18 th century England. It’s a wonder how kissing under ...

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Have you ever stopped to wonder why it is that people exchange kisses under the mistletoe? No? Well that’s okay. Still, though, the history and folklore behind the event extend ...

The holiday season is filled with traditions and customs involving plants, notes University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein. Mistletoe has a particularly rich history in European ...

Mistletoe innocently hanging in a doorway invites a chaste kiss; yet, the original use of mistletoe may have been a little more sordid. Mistletoe is said to have become associated with kissing because ...

From Harry Potter’s first kiss to Cliff Richard’s famous Christmas hit, mistletoe is everywhere in popular culture. But this Christmas tradition of standing under a sprig of the evergreen plant to ...

What is green, poisonous and appears almost everywhere during the holiday season? No, it’s not leftover fruit cake. It’s the mistletoe hanging over the doorway. We all know mistletoe as the little ...

This time of year is full of cultural traditions. We write letters to chubby elves living above the Arctic Circle. Some hang old socks above the fireplace hoping to receive magical gifts from ...

Mistletoe is a member of a large order of flowering plants known as Santalales. There are thousands of species worldwide — except in Antarctica — in a variety of tropical or temperate climates. In the ...