Undoubtedly the idea of kissing under the Mistletoe Bough was derived from the fact that the plant was dedicated to the Northern goddess of love. The old saying is that the maiden who is not kissed under the mistletoe will not be married within the coming year. The ceremony of kissing is not properly performed unless a berry is plucked off and given with each kiss to the maiden. When the berries are all gone the privilege of kissing ceases. That mistletoe grows on the oak-tree solely is a popular error. In fact, the plant prefers the apple. Most of the English mistletoe now comes from the apple orchards of Herefordshire. Normandy sends a great deal of mistletoe to England and to our country. The strange parasite is also found on the linden, poplar, and white-thorn. When once the seed is lodged, it drives its roots deep into the branch and draws sap and nourishment from the tree. The European variety is known as _Viscum album_ and is much forked. In the United States the ordinary mistletoe is known as _Phoradendron_ and grows on various hardwood trees in many of the Southern States. There is something curiously interesting about the mistletoe. It is not beautiful, the leaves are irregular and often stained and broken, the berries fall almost when looked at and the plant is stiff and woody; yet for all that there is a peculiar quality in the greenish white and waxy berries and the shape of the forked twig that makes us think of divining-rods and magical words. It has a mystic fascination for us. Shakespeare's only reference speaks of it as _baleful_: _Tamora_ says in "Titus Andronicus":[88] The trees, through summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with moss and baleful mistletoe. [88] Act II, Scene III. BOX (_Buxus sempervirens_). Shakespeare mentions the box once--when _Sir Toby Belch_ and _Sir Andrew Aguecheek_ and the _Clown_ are in _Olivia's_ garden and _Maria_, running out to tell them that _Malvolio_ is coming, excitedly cries: Get ye all three into the box-tree.[89] [89] "Twelfth Night"; Act II, Scene V. Every one knows how important a feature the box-bush is in English gardens and in the old American gardens that were planted after English models. So fine in color, so deep and luxuriant in foliage, so dignified and aristocratic in its atmosphere the name box is almost synonymous with old gardens. Its acrid yet aromatic scent--most delicious after rain--is one of its characteristics. Greek myth consecrated the box to Pluto, and the plant was said to be symbolical of the life in the Underworld which continues all the year. The ancients used it to border their flower-beds, and probably the great use of box in England comes from the Roman times. The wood was used for delicate inlay in the days of the Renaissance and also for making musical instruments.