Christmas Mistletoe

Perhaps some of you have already experienced a sweet holiday smooch or two under the Christmas mistletoe, enjoying this fairly old kissing ritual for people. But mistletoe is important in other vital ways: it provides essential food, cover, and nesting sites for an amazing number of critters in the United States and elsewhere. In fact, says Rob Bennetts, a USGS research scientist,

some animals couldn’t even survive without mistletoe, including some birds, butterflies, and insects. Not Just for Kissing: Mistletoe and Birds, Bees, and Other Beasts

The legend of kissing under the mistletoe has it roots in a Scandinavian myth. Legend has it that the Norse God, Baldur was protected from evil by everything that came from the elements of fire, water, air and earth. But an evil spirit formed an arrow from mistletoe and killed him.

The tears of Baldur's mother, Frigga, became the white berries of the mistletoe. His life was restored and Frigga, being the Goddess of Love and Beauty, is said to have kissed anyone passing under the mistletoe. The myth of mistletoe spread throughout the land and even enemies would call a truce when they met underneath it. The Legends of Christmas Holly, Mistletoe and Ivy

USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain. Most U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) information resides in the public domain (THESE IMAGES) and may be used without restriction.

There is no legal requirement for users to acknowledge or credit USGS as the source for public domain information, but they may wish to do so as a courtesy. If you wish to acknowledge or credit USGS as an information source of data or products, use a line of text as shown in the guidance below.

When using information from USGS products, publications, or Web sites that are in the public domain, we ask that proper credit be given. Credit can be provided by including a citation such as the following:

Credit: courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, The USGS home page is usgs.gov.

Leave a comment, make a request, Let this small sampling be a guide to better quality, more plentiful, public domain, royalty free, copyright free, high resolution, images, stock photos, jpeg, jpg, free for commercial use, clip art, clipart, clip-art. more at Public Domain Clip Art and clip art or public domain and Christmas or Merry Christmas and Mistletoe or evergreens