The sight of mistletoe may either send you scurrying,
看见槲寄生的当下你可能会匆忙避开，
or if you have your eye on someone, awaiting an opportunity beneath its snow white berries,
或者倘若你正爱慕着某人，就会在它雪白的浆果下等待着亲吻的机会，
but how did the festive Christmas tradition of kissing under mistletoe come about?
不过节日时在槲寄生下接吻的传统是怎么来的？
The long-lived custom intertwines the mythology and biology of this intriguing plant.
这一长久以来的传统，交织着关于这迷人的植物的神话与生物学特征。
There are more than 1,000 species of mistletoe, which grows the world over.
世界上有超过一千种的槲寄生。
In fact, the ancient Europeans were so captivated by the plant's unusual growth habits
事实上，古代欧洲人对槲寄生的特殊生长习性是如此地着迷，
that they included it in their legends and myths.
以至于他们把它包含在传说和神话中。
In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder described how the Druid priesthood in ancient England
在古罗马，老普林尼曾描述道，在古代英格兰德鲁伊教的教士们
believed that mistletoe was a plant dropped down from heaven by the gods.
认为槲寄生是一种上帝从天上抛下的植物
That explained its unlikely position amongst the high branches of certain trees.
这就解释了为什么槲寄生不走寻常路，长在某些树木高处的枝头上。
They also believed it had powers of healing and bestowing fertility.
他们还相信槲寄生有着治愈的能力，而且寓意着多子多孙。
Meanwhile, Scandinavian legend told of the plant's mystical qualities
与此同时，北欧传说中也提到了这一植物的神秘属性，
in the story of the god Baldr and his adoring mother Frigg, goddess of love, marriage, and fertility.
在光明之神巴尔德和他美丽动人的母亲，掌管婚姻和生育的爱神弗丽嘉的故事中。
Frigg loved her son so much that she commanded every plant, animal, and inanimate object to vow they'd never harm him.
弗丽嘉深爱着儿子，她要求世间万物，飞禽走兽，甚至是无生命的物体，都要发誓不伤巴德尔分毫。
In her fervor, however, she overlooked the mistletoe.
但百密一疏，她漏掉了槲寄生。
The mischievous god Loki realized this oversight and pierced Baldr's heart with an arrow carved from a mistletoe branch.
邪神洛基发现了这个漏洞，用一只槲寄生枝条雕刻而成的剑刺穿了巴尔德的心脏。
Frigg cried tears of such sadness that they formed the mistletoe's pearly berries,
弗丽嘉泪如泉涌，泪水化成了槲寄生珍珠一般的果实，
making the other gods pity her and agree to resurrect Baldr.
这使其他诸神感到深深的同情，并同意将巴德尔复活。
Hearing the news, Frigg became so overjoyed
弗丽嘉对这个消息感到欣喜若狂，
that she transformed the mistletoe from a symbol of death into one of peace and love.
于是将槲寄生从死亡的象征变成了爱与和平的象征。
She mandated a one-day truce for all fights,
她下令在这一天停止一切战斗，
and that everyone embrace beneath its branches when they passed to spread more love into the world.
并让每一个从槲寄生枝条下面经过的人都拥抱彼此，来向世界传递更多的爱。

In the 17th century, British colonists arriving in the New World
17世纪时，英国殖民者来到了新大陆，
found a different, but very similar looking, species of mistletoe.
发现了一种虽然不同，却长得十分相似的槲寄生。
They applied it to these tales of magic, fertility, and love,
他们于是将它运用到了那些关于魔法、爱与生育的传说中，
spreading the mistletoe-hanging tradition from Europe into America.
把槲寄生下亲吻的传统从欧洲传到了美洲。
By the 18th century, people in Britain had turned this into a Christmas tradition,
到18世纪时，英国人将它变成了一个圣诞传统，
but this custom comes down to more than just human imagination.
但这个传统到底只是人们的想象而已。
All of it was inspired by the plant's intriguing biology.
一切都是它有趣的生物学特性所带来的灵感。
We see mistletoe as a festive decoration,
在我们眼里，槲寄生是一种充满节日气息的装饰，
but draped on tree boughs in the wild, it's known as a partly parasitic plant.
但它其实长在野外，披挂在树枝上，是一种寄生植物。
Mistletoe relies on modified roots called haustoria that penetrate the tree bark
槲寄生靠着它们特殊的根，也就是寄生植物的吸器，渗透进树皮，
and siphon off the water and minerals trees carry up their trunks.
吸收通过树干输送上来的水分和矿物质。
To colonize nearby trees with its seeds, mistletoe depends on birds and other creatures to do the dispersing.
槲寄生在附近的树木上借种子进行繁殖，种子依赖于鸟类和其它生物来进行传播。
Birds that eat the mistletoe's sticky white berries
以槲寄生富有粘液的白色果实为食的鸟类，
sometimes get rid of the gluey seeds by wiping them off onto tree bark.
有时会把黏人的种子蹭在树皮上。
Or with a bit of luck, they excrete the indigestible seed onto a tree where it germinates and starts to grow.
如果幸运点的话，它们会将无法消化的种子排泄到树上，然后种子便生根发芽，不断生长。
With its resilience and foliage that stays lush even while the surrounding trees lose their leaves,
凭着一股韧劲和它繁茂的树叶，即使身边的树木都在不断落叶，
you can see why mistletoe captivated our superstitious ancestors.
你能理解为什么槲寄生会迷倒我们迷信的祖先。
They saw these as signs of the plant's magical qualities and fertility.
他们将这些视为其魔力和繁殖力的象征。
Even today, the mistletoe inspires wonder with the diversity of wildlife it supports.
即便在今天，槲寄生也因为能保护野生生物多样性，而不断激发人们的思考。
More than just a parasite, it's also known as a keystone species.
除了作为寄生植物，它还是一种关键物种。
It's eaten by a diversity of animals,
它被各种动物所食，
including deer, elk, squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, robins, bluebirds, morning doves, and the butterfly genus Delias.
包括鹿、麋鹿、松鼠、花栗鼠、豪猪、知更鸟、蓝鸟、哀鸽以及蝴蝶科的斑粉蝶属。
Some mistletoe species produce dense bushes, which are excellent nesting locations for a variety of birds.
某些槲寄生品种长有茂密的灌木，对许多鸟类来说是绝佳筑巢地。
And despite their parasitic relationship with trees, mistletoes can also help other plants.
而且尽管寄生于树木，槲寄生也能够帮助其它植物。
For instance, juniper sprouts near mistletoe to benefit from the visiting berry-eating birds.
比如，生长在附近的杜松子就能从前来寻找莓果的鸟类身上获益。
Through the many benefits it provides, mistletoe influences diversity, and allows ecosystems to flourish.
槲寄生通过它所带来许多益处影响生物多样性，并使生态系统得以蓬勃发展。
You might even say that for this iconic plant, life imitates legend.
你甚至可以说，对这种标志性植物而言，生命是依传说而造的。
In the wild, mistletoe has the power to bring things together,
在野外，槲寄生拥有将事物汇集于一处的力量，
and in our own traditions, we see that happening, too.
而在我们自己的传统中，也见证着这种凝聚的进行。