Discovery News: "Another reason to celebrate under the mistletoe this holiday season is that researchers have just determined a medicine made out of fermented mistletoe (Iscadore) may prolong the lives of cancer patients.The plant is Viscum album, the most common holiday mistletoe of Europe, and the species that first inspired the tradition of couples sharing a kiss under its evergreen leaves and waxy berries."
Curiously I was unable to locate any mistletoe anywhere around town; there was some questionably botanically accurate plastic sprigs at the Dollarama, but once upon a time you could actually buy mistletoe, and for years I had a preserved sprig that we'd put up each year, until that one year we forgot to pack it away and said, "that's ok, we'll put it someplace safe for now, and put it with the other xmas stuff later."