Essex Mistletoe mapping project
Ken Adams 63 Wroths Path, Baldwins Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 1SH.
Email: ken.adams@virgin.net Tel: 020 8508 7863
I read somewhere that since kissing under the Mistletoe is reckoned originally to be a
pagan custom, an early English Christian law made it illegal - and it has, apparently, never
been repealed. (Don't tell Gordon Brown or he will probably make it legal but taxable).
Despite a decline in Mistle Thrushes in recent years, the parasite Mistletoe Viscum album
has undergone an explosive colonization of new hosts all over England, filling in between
its former sites and spreading northwards towards Scotland. One paper already published
and two in press in The London Naturalist, have pinpointed the start of a local exponential
increase to the early 1990s. In Essex it has largely begun to spread around existing foci in
towns and villages. This ties in with Mistle Thrush distribution as the latter have apparently
abandoned the countryside in recent years in favour of gardens and parks in built up areas.
During 2009 Professor Duncan Vere and I will be attempting to map in detail the colonization
of frees in Essex. If you know where Mistletoe grows in Essex, please let us have the
details. And if you know the dates when particular patches appeared, and what they are
growing on this would be valuable information. In Essex it has so far been recorded on
Oak, Ash, Maple, Elm, Hybrid Lime, American Black Poplar, Western Balsam Poplar,
Grey Poplar, Crack Willow, Weeping Willow, Goat Willow, Hazel, Hornbeam, Hawthorn,
Blackthorn, Common Lime, a range of Apple species, False Acacia and even Dog Rose.
The reason for the sudden increase in Mistletoe success is unknown, but it is almost certainly
due to climate change, as until the early 1990s its distribution had remained more or less
scattered and static for at least 200 years. Wet springs are known to assist its establishment
after initial germination, and we have had a run of those lately, and Blue Tits heavily
predate its seeds once deposited on the trees by other birds that have eaten the berries - and
they have declined recently. And of course average temperatures have increased, so
temperature change could be the trigger. On the other hand, acid rain began to decline
rapidly at about the same time. Maybe that formerly damaged the young seedlings that lie
dormant for up to 5 years after an initial germination and attachment.
Please let us have your records, ideally the name of a street or road, or a grid reference
so that we can come and map them in detail.
DNA fingerprinting of all veteran European Black Poplar trees in
Essex, a joint project with Forest Research, Rosslyn Institute,
Edinburgh
Ken Adams 63 Wroths Path, Baldwins Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 1SH.
Email: ken.adams@virgin.net Tel: 020 8508 7863
8 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 58, January 2009