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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
43
Then
there
is
the
mistletoe,
which,
like
the
hazel
and
the
white-thorn,
was
also
supposed
to
be
the
embodiment
of
lightning;
and
in
consequence
of
its
mythical
character
held
an
exalted
place
in
the
botanical
world.
As
a
lightning-plant,
we
seem
to
have
the
key
to
its
symbolical
nature,
in
the
circumstance
that
its
branch
is
forked.
On
the
same
principle,
it
is
worthy
of
note,
as
Mr.
Fiske
remarks[7]
that,
"the
Hindu
commentators
of
the
Veda
certainly
lay
great
stress
on
the
fact
that
the
palasa
is
trident-leaved."
We
have
already
pointed
out,
too,
how
the
red
colour
of
a
flower,
as
in
the
case
of
the
berries
of
the
mountain-ash,
was
apparently
sufficient
to
determine
the
association
of
ideas.
The
Swiss
name
for
mistletoe,
donnerbesen,
"thunder
besom,"
illustrates
its
divine
origin,
on
account
of
which
it
was
supposed
to
protect
the
homestead
from
fire,
and
hence
in
Sweden
it
has
long
been
suspended
in
farm-houses,
like
the
mountain-ash
in
Scotland.
But
its
virtues
are
by
no
means
limited,
for
like
all
lightning-plants
its
potency
is
displayed
in
a
variety
of
ways,
its
healing
properties
having
from
a
remote
period
been
in
the
highest
repute.
For
purposes
also
of
sorcery
it
has
been
reckoned
of
considerable
importance,
and
as
a
preventive
of
nightmare
and
other
night
scares
it
is
still
in
favour
on
the
Continent.
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