Conservationists have warned that mistletoe could vanish at Christmas from the nation's halls and doorways within 20 years.
The National Trust fears that the decline of traditional apple orchards, where mistletoe thrives, may lead to the parasitic plant disappearing or becoming much harder to obtain. The trust is campaigning for orchard owners and gardeners to nurture the plant and wants householders to buy sustainably sourced mistletoe.
In the past 60 years, traditional orchards have declined dramatically in the cider heartland (Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire). Many that survive are not tended, hastening the death of the trees and then the plant.
Jonathan Briggs, a leading mistletoe expert, said, "Mistletoe is doing well right now. Those older orchards are probably yielding more mistletoe than they used to because it's not being controlled. But because the mistletoe is not being controlled, fast forward 10 or 20 years and the orchards won't be there. The mistletoe will accelerate the trees' deaths and it seems inevitable that we will have a shortage of mistletoe in 10 or 20 years."
He added that mistletoe would migrate to bigger, non-orchard trees and become harder to reach, which could turn it into a much more expensive product or prompt people to rely on cheaper foreign imports.
Peter Brash, an ecologist at the National Trust, said, "Mistletoe is part of our Christmas heritage and has a special place in a wonderful winter landscape." He added that people should check where their mistletoe came from. "Ensuring your mistletoe comes from a sustainably managed, British source is good news all round. You will be supporting a small, homegrown industry, while helping to ensure a future for mistletoe and the creatures that are dependent upon it."
Mistletoe also provides winter food for birds such as the blackcap and mistle thrush. It also supports six insects, including the rare mistletoe marble moth, some sap-sucking bugs and the "kiss-me-slow weevil”.
