I don't know that anybody sells it(this time of year). It's often on Oak trees. I think its only hosts are hardwoods. The best way to get it down, or so I've heard, is to get a 10 or 12 gauge shot gun and blow it off the tree. Try to hit the branch below it. If you are a good shot, you could just try a rifle(.280 or .270 should do).
You have to understand... I'm from Arkansas.

It's not on the market, Paul, nor does anybody carry the seeds, at least that I know of. I've been trying for a couple of years to get some seeds, but they're always too high up for me reach. I hadn't thought about blowing mistletoe off the tree with a shotgun! Hehehehe!
Once you get the seeds (they're white) you can supposedly smear them on branches of hardwood trees that you've chosen as a site for it to grow. Birds are the natural seed dispensers. If I ever get any seeds, I'll try to find some low hanging branches to use - the best tree would probably be an old live oak, since they have those low branches. Of course, it'd be unwise to tax a young tree with a parasite, actually a hemiparasite.
I'd love to see the life cycle of GPH cats!
MissSherry
P.S.
If anybody wants to sell mistletoe seeds this fall, I'll pay for them. Get the guns out! :)

Mistletoe doesn't 'climb' on trees, it parasitizes them. These parasites fool their host plants into thinking that the tiny roots which they put into the vascular system of the host are benign. (The tree would actually be able to fight off the intrusion early on.) When the foreign body is firmly established, it steals photosynthates and water FROM the tree, which can do nothing but suffer for it. A large infestation of mistletoe will weaken and even kill its host plant. A small one can create problems.

Fortunately, the mistletoe that you buy cannot readily be established on trees, even when newly harvested. That is done when the seeds are extremely fresh, though completely ripe (Spring), and either ejected by the mistletoe itself (seeds are covered with very sticky stuff) OR passed along by birds (who love the fruit). These seeds stick to the outer bark of the tree, germinate, and begin insinuating their parasitic roots into the host tree.

Considering how much birds like the fruit and that they are the primary method of seed dispersal, one small outcropping of mistletoe could actually infestate a neighborhood in a fairly short time. Not a good thing for the trees, I don't think. ;-) At least not our urban trees, which have enough problems, as it is.

Mistletoe growing in native and natural environments is an important part of the ecosystems over much of the world.

MissSherry...the older the tree, the more susceptible to the problems that mistletoe can cause. Age does the same thing in plants as it does to us, lol! They have less resistance to disease, insect infestation, etc. They may SEEM to be invulnerable, but they are not. Just the opposite, as a matter of fact.

The invasion of mistletoe can also introduce other pathogens, as well.

However, if I still haven't talked you out of it.....mistletoe seed germination is very poor, but your best results would not be on the lower branches but in the tops of the trees where sunlight can fall. You can observe that in nature.

Goodness, I have seen trees absolutely decimated by mistletoe. I know it is a host, but I'm not sure I would want this one in my backyard. You would have to climb a tree to get it, as it does not grow well on lower branches. I always send my children up some trees at Christmas-time to get some to hang in our house.

Mistletoe does not climb on anything. The way I have seen it it sends it's roots directly into the tree bark, it can spread invasively throughout the tops of the tree and really hurt the tree.

Not quite sure I'd want this one in my yard.....

Elaine

But, we wouldn't have Great Purple Hairstreaks without it, now, would we, Dorie? So, there is a purpose for it.

I wonder how good I could get with a slingshot? I don't think the neighbors would appreciate the use of a shotgun here. However, my next door neighbor uses a BB gun to shoot at the pigeons that like to roost on his second floor balcony. He's a lawyer and a little whacked to boot.

Susan

After reading Dorie's posts, I guess I won't try to establish mistletoe on any of my trees - I didn't realize it was THAT bad!
I'm a tree hugger/lover almost as much as a butterfly/caterpillar lover. I've got trees of all ages, and I thought the big ones would be able to tolerate one bunch of mistletoe - oh well, too bad! :(
I'll just enjoy the GPHs that happen along here and there.
MissSherry

One more thing about mistletoe - Several years ago I found 2 or 3 batches of it high up in the branches of a real big black gum tree on the back part of the property. I looked for it the next year, and it was gone. I've been looking for it for all these years now and still can't find it. Does mistletoe sometimes die out and not return on its tree?
MissSherry

All of my trees are quite young...and since my habitat is "artificial", I don;t see where it could spread. I know it grows nearby, because I do see a couple of GPH's every year. I have 2 tulip poplar trees about 20 feet high, and a small live oak in my front yard......hmmm.

Neat idea with the shotgun, I think the HOA would be on me in a skinny minute..,...but where I came from, many things were solved with a shotgun!

Silly Susan! No one NEEDS to establish mistletoe in their backyard trees in order for Great Purple Hairstreaks to exist! ;-) Mistletoe is a superior wildlife plant; no one has disputed that. But there is plenty (MORE than plenty) of it in our urban trees and in forests. Makes no sense whatsoever to introduce what could possibly be a detriment to your trees when the butterflies can find it elsewhere.

I really and truly believe that our backyard, street, neighborhood, and parking lot trees are exceedingly valuable. Putting them at risk, rather than fostering them is not something that we oughta be doing.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a short article about mistletoe several months ago. It's a VERY interesting plant, with a fascinating history. Email me if you would like me to send it to you.

Did I say I needed to "establish" it? If so, you are right, silly me, and I was wrong for sure. No, I just meant that we just have it in a lot of the older, mature trees and my point was: without mistletoe, we wouldn't HAVE GPHs!

Susan

Miss Sherry, large clumps of mistletoe can sometimes break from their own weight and fall to the ground. Or, sometimes the branch that they are growing in may break. Some communities and private homeowners have infestations removed upon occasion, too. (I know that this latter is not the case with you.)

What mistletoe can't do is disappear. Even if something were to happen to the main body, it would still stick around (leafless and dead) in the tree,

Maybe it wasn't mistletoe, just a clump of leaves! :) Duh!
MissSherry

I've thought about "growing" mistletoe in my yard,but am not sure it would survive here.The nearest wild occurences I know of are 150 miles from away,in Southern Ohio.

Dan, I looked in my field guide, and GPHs don't occur in Ohio, so, unless there's some other butterfly or moth that uses mistletoe, there'd be no reason to have it anyway.
MissSherry

Not that I would ever recommend anyone attempting to get some mistletoe started on their valuable trees, it IS a valuable plant for wildlife. Butterflies or no butterflies, lol! It is often one of the first plants to flower in the spring, supplying a welcome source of energy for bees and other nectar feeding creatures. Birds of many kinds love the berries (though they are very toxic to the rest of us, don't forget!!), and squirrels and birds use this plant for cover and nesting.

In a natural forest setting, mistletoe has its place.

Sherry,
I would grow it just for fun and because it's evergreen.There's very little greenery here in the winter.
GPH's have been found in WV,just across the river from OH,so they might stray into my state on occasion.But realistically...I doubt I'll ever see one :(

Hmmmm.....maybe you could get one, Dan! They're real knockouts, so I wish they used something other than mistletoe - what a host! :(
Dorie, for what it's worth, I got my scant mistletoe information from the book 'Butterfly Gardening for the South' by Geyata Ajilvsgi. In her 'Christmas Mistletoe/Phorandendron tomentosum' section she says,
"Christmas mistletoe depends on its host tree for certain nutrients. As the seeds sprout, they send minute hairlike tendrils beneath the bark layer, where they are able to absorb the liquid sap of the tree. If a weak or diseased tree becomes heavily infested with the shrub, the tree can actually be killed. However, one or two clumps on a healthy tree usually will neither weaken nor kill the tree.'
And -
'When trying to propagate mistletoe, your first requirement is to have a healthy host plant that is preferably a few years old. Then, in mid to late winter, gather mistletoe berries and mash them all over the branches and trunk of the tree. Several species of birds savor the berries, in particular bluebirds, cedar waxwings, and robins. If you spot a flock of these birds, gather some of the seed-filled droppings and smear these on the tree where you want misletoe to grow. Often the percentage rate of germination is greatly increased for seeds which have passed through an animal's digestive tract. If more than six clumps of plants begin to grow, remove all but three or four after the first year or two. It will do no good to weaken or kill the tree.'
I've passed on this information to this forum before, so that's probably where Susan got the 'establishing mistletoe' on their trees thing.
I've heard the expression 'There's no seed like a seed that's been through a bird' but I can't imagine gathering up bird poop and smearing it on my tree branches! Hehehehe!
I live in the country on 5 1/2 acres of wooded property, but after the hurricane felled SO many of my big trees, I don't want to take any chances with the big ones still standing. Many of them are hardwoods that host butterflies and moths, especially wild black cherry, and I wouldn't want them weakened, much less wiped out!
{{gwi:466562}}
MissSherry

It's a double-edged sword....mistletoe can be like one of those infamous garden 'thugs', or plant species that has become an environmental problem (like Bradford Pears or Mimosa is some parts of the country). We may be able to control mistletoe on OUR tree, but we have very little control over what the birds do.

Even one prospering mistletoe plant can weaken a healthy, vigorous tree....one branch at a time.

What a spectacular photograph!

Did you take that awesome pic,Sherry? I love the "two heads" illusion of Hairstreaks,which increaeses their odds of survival when attacked by a predator.

Has anyone ever seen a weird parasitic plant called "dodder?" It looks like orange string wrapped around the host plant.They are in the morning glory family,and I wonder if they might be a hostplant for any lep species? I definitely don't want these in my yard though!

Yes, I took that picture, Dan - it's one of my very favorites!
Dodder has come up at various times around here, and I agree, you don't want it! It can strangle the plants it grows on, and it looks awful. I haven't seen it in a while, but don't remember it having any leaves, so it seems unlikely that it'd be used by any lep.
MissSherry