Mistletoe - Yadorigi

Japanese: ヤドリギ - やどりぎ

An evergreen small shrub of the family Mistletoe (APG classification: Santalaceae). It is also called Hoya (parasitic) or Tobidzuta (flying ivy). It parasitizes on deciduous broad-leaved trees such as Zelkova, Chinese hackberry, cherry, and Mizunara, hence the name mistletoe. It branches well and becomes a globular shape with a diameter of 40 to 60 cm. The branches are green, bifurcated or trifurcated, and have joints that fall apart when dry. The leaves grow opposite each other at the end of the branches, have no stalks, are oblanceolate, and are 3 to 6 cm long. The tips are slightly rounded, leathery, thick, dark green, and not shiny. Dioecious. In February and March, pale yellow flowers bloom at the end of the branches, usually in groups of three, among the leaves. The perianth is bell-shaped with four lobes and is thick in texture. The male flowers have no stamens and the anthers are attached to the perianth lobes. The female flowers have one pistil. The fruit is a spherical berry about 6 mm in diameter that ripens to a pale yellow translucent color. The flesh is sticky and is carried by birds to other trees where it sticks and germinates. It is distributed from Hokkaido to Kyushu, as well as the Korean Peninsula and China.

The red mistletoe variety has orange-yellow fruits that ripen, while its parent species, Viscum acutum, resembles the common mistletoe, but its fruits ripen white. Viscum acutum is distributed from Europe to northwestern Asia, and parasitizes and damages European beech, poplar, and apple trees. In the UK, the branches and leaves with fruit on them are used as decorations at Christmas.

Other plants that grow wild in Japan and have an ecological pattern similar to that of mistletoe include the large-leaved mistletoe, the Japanese thrush, the Japanese mistletoe, and the Japanese cypress-leaved mistletoe.

[Yoshio Kobayashi February 17, 2021]

In the APG classification, the cypress-leaved mistletoe and the mistletoe are in the Santalaceae family. The big-leaved mistletoe, the thrush, and the hawkweed are in the Maltaceae family.

[Editorial Department, February 17, 2021]

Cultural history

Mistletoe, which grows on deciduous trees and remains evergreen, appears to have been a surprise to ancient people, and indigenous beliefs about mistletoe arose in various European countries, where it was used in rituals. Examples of this are given in Frazer's The Golden Bough. In ancient Celtic Druidism, there was a religious ceremony in which mistletoe growing on European oak trees was cut off on the night of the sixth lunar day at the beginning of the year. In Scandinavia, at a fire festival on the winter solstice, an effigy of Balder, the god of light, and mistletoe were thrown into the fire to pray for the rebirth of light. The custom of decorating indoors with evergreen mistletoe as a symbol of the goddess of spring and the spirit of light is associated with Christmas and remains to this day.

In Japan, mistletoe was also the subject of evergreen worship. In Volume 18 of the Manyoshu, Otomo no Yakamochi wrote the following poem at a banquet: "I took some mistletoe from the tip of a tree on Mt. Ashihiki and put it in my hair, and it is said that I will live for a thousand years." "Mistletoe" is an old name for mistletoe, and we can see that there was a custom of putting it in one's hair to pray for longevity.

[Hiroshi Yuasa February 17, 2021]

[Reference] | Parasitism

Mistletoe
It parasitizes on trees such as beech, zelkova, and Mizunara. It branches out a lot and becomes a sphere with a diameter of 40 to 60 cm. It is a "semi-parasitic plant" that takes root in the host's branches and absorbs nutrients while also performing photosynthesis. ©Shogakukan Photo by Okuyama Hisashi ">

Mistletoe

Mistletoe berries
The berries are about 6mm in diameter and ripen to a pale yellow translucent color. The flesh is sticky and is carried by birds to other trees, where it sticks to and germinates. ©Shogakukan Photo by Okuyama Hisashi ">

Mistletoe berries

Major species of the Mistletoe family [specimen illustrations]
©Kanzo Otawa ">

Major species of the Mistletoe family [specimen illustrations]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ヤドリギ科（APG分類：ビャクダン科）の常緑小低木。ホヤ（寄生）、トビヅタ（飛蔦）ともいう。ケヤキ、エノキ、サクラ、ミズナラその他の落葉広葉樹の樹上に寄生し、このためヤドリギの名がある。よく枝分れして径40～60センチメートルの球形になる。枝は緑色で二又から三又状に多数分枝し、関節があり、乾くとばらばらになる。葉は枝先に対生し、柄がなく、倒披針(とうひしん)形で長さ3～6センチメートル。先はやや丸く、革質で厚く、濃緑色で光沢がない。雌雄異株。2～3月、枝先の葉の間に淡黄色の小花を通常3個ずつ頂生して開く。花被(かひ)は鐘形で4裂し、質が厚い。雄花の雄しべは花糸がなく、葯(やく)は花被裂片につく。雌花には雌しべが1本ある。果実は球形、径約6ミリメートルの液果で、淡黄色の半透明に熟す。果肉は粘りが強く、鳥類によって他樹に運ばれ、粘着して発芽する。北海道から九州、および朝鮮半島、中国に分布する。

　品種のアカミヤドリギは果実が橙黄(とうこう)色に熟し、母種のセイヨウヤドリギはヤドリギに似るが、果実は白く熟す。セイヨウヤドリギはヨーロッパからアジア北西部に分布し、ヨーロッパブナ、ポプラなどのほか、果樹のリンゴにも寄生して被害を与える。イギリスではクリスマスのときに果実のついた枝葉を飾りに使う。

　なお、ヤドリギに似た生態を示すもので日本に自生する植物には、ほかにオオバヤドリギ、マツグミ、ホザキヤドリギ、ヒノキバヤドリギがある。

［小林義雄　2021年2月17日］

　APG分類ではヒノキバヤドリギとヤドリギはビャクダン科とされる。オオバヤドリギ、マツグミ、ホザキヤドリギはオオバヤドリギ科である。

［編集部　2021年2月17日］

文化史

落葉した木に着生し常緑を保つヤドリギは、古代の人々にとって驚きであったとみえ、ヨーロッパ各国でセイヨウヤドリギの土着信仰が生じ、儀式に使われた。その諸例はフレーザーの『金枝篇(きんしへん)』で取り上げられている。古代ケルト人のドルイド教では年初の月齢6日の夜、ヨーロッパナラ（オーク）に着生したセイヨウヤドリギを切り落とす神事があった。北欧では冬至の火祭りに光の神バルデルの人形とセイヨウヤドリギを火のなかに投げ、光の新生を願った。常緑のヤドリギを春の女神や光の精の象徴として室内に飾る風習は、クリスマスと結び付き、現代に残る。

　日本でもヤドリギは、常緑信仰の対象とされていた。大伴家持(おおとものやかもち)は『万葉集』巻18で、「あしひきの山の木末(こぬれ)のほよ取りて挿頭(かざ)しつらくは千年(ちとせ)寿(ほ)くとそ」と、宴(うたげ)の席で詠んでいる。ほよはヤドリギの古名で、髪に挿し長寿を祈る習俗があったことがわかる。

［湯浅浩史　2021年2月17日］

[参照項目] | 寄生

ヤドリギ

ヤドリギの果実

ヤドリギ科のおもな種類〔標本画〕

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

<<: Parasitic mites - Parasitic mites

>>: Innkeeper's Wealth