Categories: Gardening

Mistletoe – Oklahoma’s State Flower

Mistletoe is the official state flower of Oklahoma. This may sound odd to those not from Oklahoma who know that the mistletoe is a parasitic plant. When leaves are falling out of trees for the winter, one can get a great view of all the abundance of mistletoe hanging around.

It was adopted as the state flower of Oklahoma on February 11, 1893, after Chicago hosted the World Fair. Apparently the states or would-be-states, wanting to be part of the union, were requested to name their state flower at that time.

When residents of the Oklahoma territory found out they were infuriated. There was much clamor about a berry bearing parasitic plant becoming their state flower. It took a while for them to get over it. Some still are not happy about it to this day.

As mentioned, the mistletoe is a parasitic plant. To be more specific, it is a hemi-parasitic plant. This means it can grow on its own when it is seeded in the ground. This happens when birds spread the germinating plant around as they fly.

When mistletoe is seeded in a tree or bush, it roots itself into the bark and spreads through the tissue of the trunk or limb it attached to. So in a way you could say it is similar to an orchid.

Mistletoe was supposed to have been on the Oklahoma state flag, but the design gave way to the olive branch being draped across the center instead.

It is said that native Indians used the mistletoe for medicinal purposes. There are also recorded accounts throughout history of other cultures using for medicine as well. Somehow there is a way to treat the kidney with the mistletoe.

The dark green leaves are thick and almost oval in shape from side to side. A jade plant grows it leaves in much the same way. One of these plants can grow as close to three feet in diameter, but you are more than likely to see them no more than 18″ to 20″ across.

The white to pink berries can grow to nearly ¼” in diameter. They are what the birds seek out as supplemental food during the winter. The digestion of these berries in birds is what helps them seed into new plants as the birds discard them.

Growing mistletoe as a houseplant is quite difficult. It can be done, but there is still much to learn about these mysterious houseplants.