Plants shrubby, yellowish green; stems jointed, dichotomously branched, swollen at the nodes. Leaves elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, 2.5-7 cm long, 0.5-3.5 cm wide, entire, 3-5-veined, tips obtuse. Flowers sessile, in fascicles of 3-5; bracts 2, about 2 mm long, obtuse, ciliate; perianth lobes 3-4, free, about 1 mm long, triangular, thick, deciduous; anthers 4, dehiscing by numerous pores; ovaries about 2 mm long, obvoid; stigmas about 1 mm long, conical. Berries about 1 cm wide, globose; seeds 5-6 mm long, embedded in a white, viscous pulp.
Viscum album is native to the Old World but has been introduced and become established in North America. It is used in Christmas decorations.
Notes added 2018:
Rechinger (1976) described a new species, Viscum dryophilum, and compared it with Viscum album. The clearest distinction between the above description and that for Viscum dryopphilum is in the size of the berries (about 10 mm in diameter in Viscum album and 5 mm in Viscum dryophilumand the narrow host range of Viscum dryophilum(restricted to Quercus baloot).
D. Kahle-Zuber (2008) completed a doctoral dissertation on the biology and evolution of Viscum album. She argued for recognition of four subspecies in Viscum album, each of which is circumscribed by a combination of host specificity and DNA sequence data (see below). She did not, unfortunately, include Viscum dryophilum in her study so, for now, it is accepted here as a species.
Subspecies of Viscum album 1. Host plant a dicotyledonos species other than Quercus baloot...Viscum album subsp. album
1. Host plant a gymnosperm ... 2
2. Host plant a species of Abies ... Quercus album subsp. abietis
2. Host plant a gymnosperm other than Abies ...3
3. Host plant a Pinus halepensis subsp. brutia; plants endemic to Crete ... Viscum album susp. creticum
3. Host plant usually a species of Pinus, occasionally Larix or Picea; plants widespread... Viscum album subsp. austriacum