Viscum album

Mistletoe, Viscum album, is an evergreen, hemi-parasitic shrub, meaning it obtains part of its food from the plant it's parasitising, and part from photosynthesis.

It has a bushy, globose shape and can parasitise more than 200 trees and shrubs – apples, lime, poplar and conifers are frequent hosts. Mistletoe doesn't kill the plant, however, so you needn't remove if you spot it growing in your garden. It'll provide you with fresh mistletoe at Christmas, too!

It's possible to grow mistletoe yourself by harvesting the seeds from fresh berries in spring, then placing them underneath bark flaps on a suitable tree or shrub.