File:Viscum_album_2026_G1.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Viscum
Sign in to saveViscum is a genus of over 100 species of mistletoes, native to temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Its name is the origin of the English word viscous, after the Latin viscum, a sticky bird lime made from the plants' berries.
OverviewAI-generated
Viscum is a genus of plants in the family Santalaceae, also classified under Viscaceae. It belongs to the order Santalales within the class Magnoliopsida and phylum Tracheophyta. The genus produces berries as its fruit type. Common names for the group include European mistletoe, as well as Амяла, Имел, Öksəotu, and دبق.
The native range of Viscum includes Afghanistan, Albania, Aldabra, Algeria, Amur, Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Austria, Baleares, the Baltic States, and Bangladesh. The genus has also been introduced to British Columbia, California, and Ireland. Occurrence records have been documented in countries such as China, Madagascar, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
European mistletoe
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderSantalales
- FamilyViscaceae
General: Problems may be encountered when keying species of Viscum
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 951
- With media
- 705
- Family
- Viscaceae
- Collections
- A, CAS, GH
- Recorded in
- China, Madagascar, Taiwan, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda
Research
1,337 papers- Viscum album L. Therapy in Oncology: An Update on Current Evidence.Complementary medicine research · 2022
- Viscum album L., a Therapeutic Option for Neoplastic Diseases in Companion Animals? A Systematic Review.Complementary medicine research · 2022
- Viscum articulatum Burm. f.: a review on its phytochemistry, pharmacology and traditional uses.The Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology · 2018
- The Antioxidant Activity of Mistletoes (Viscum album and Other Species).Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
- A Scoping Review of Genus Viscum: Biological and Chemical Aspects of Alcoholic Extracts.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
Show 7 more facts
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Viscum
- Commons category
- Viscum
- topic's main category
- Category:Viscum
- taxon common name
- omela
- has fruit type
- berry
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Toxicity in the genus ''Viscum''
- Fossil record
- Species
- References
- Other sources
Viscum is a genus of over 100 species of mistletoes, native to temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Its name is the origin of the English word viscous, after the Latin viscum, a sticky bird lime made from the plants' berries.
They are woody, obligate hemiparasitic shrubs with branches long. Their hosts are woody shrubs and trees. The foliage is dichotomously or verticillately branching, with opposite pairs or whorls of green leaves which perform some photosynthesis (minimal in some species, notably V. nudum), but with the plant drawing its mineral and water needs from the host tree. Different species of Viscum tend to use different host species; most species are able to use several different host species.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Viscum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.