Now you got me thinking why media has been getting it wrong as much as the public does.
For how long have we treated red owie plants as the traditional imposter while the white helicopter seed plant is just. There?
And the mythical lore is entirely different!
Holly wards off evil, which is why it's placed on potential entrances of the home (doors, windows) and the hearth
Mistletoe invites fortune in love, hence the whole kissing tradition.
Such a pet peeve of mine x'D
(But if it makes you feel better, Holly from high on the tree doesn't bother getting spiky =3 it only does that if its low and getting munched on)
Hilariously though if you google mistletoe, holly will still show up just because of how long this mixup has been happening with artists on the internet (and in general)
This is true, though when I google it. Only 3 of the 15 initial images google shows you for mistletoe, shows holly and they're mostly towards the end of line. So maybe the issue is slowly dissolving.
My guess is it's cuz a lot of people come from places that don't have traditions relating to these plants, so they make a guess and Holly just looks way more christmass than the mistletoe. At least that's how i got them confused before xDD
well, according to someone in this comment thread, red mistletoe is a real variety. so that also might be adding onto it x)
For my part i just remember seeing a lot of red berry plants in american xmass movies and assuming that was mistletoe :')
I was looking for a flower name for a character of mine once, and I picked Holly because "What's that plant that grows on the trees in the cemetery like weeds, that's a cool one"
I don't even remember what either one of them are called in my first language, so the bar is not high
mistletoe doesn't grow around here, so i see what is probably wintergreen/teaberry/boxberry in place of it a lot, which has red berries and rounded leaves!
It’s a religious mixup! Holly was used instead of mistletoe because the church didn’t like that mistletoe was a pagan tradition! (At least that’s what my research told me)
SAME!!! I only recently found out there ARE red berried species of mistletoe- but those aren't the ones in the myths that Frigg(?) blessed with the whole "kissing under them" thing so they're no longer to be used as a weapon(?, I swear I remember reading something like that).
I have saved sooooo many friends from making this mistake whenever they're in the sketch phase. It's basically an impulse at this point anytime I see someone drawing holly at all lmao
Listen. If there's greenery hanging up, I'm kissing anyone who stands under it unless they're a straight man I'm not related to. Cuz I'm an indoor cat who does not recognize the differences between plants! This is also why I don't forage - because I would poison myself!
I had this mix up long ago when i was asked to draw a christmass themed art. Needed to draw a mistletoe, but drew holly. Thankfully I ended up googling a reference and fixed up my mistake. But ooh boi.
But to be fair - most of us making this mistake have never seen either of those irl 😭
Comments
For how long have we treated red owie plants as the traditional imposter while the white helicopter seed plant is just. There?
Holly wards off evil, which is why it's placed on potential entrances of the home (doors, windows) and the hearth
Mistletoe invites fortune in love, hence the whole kissing tradition.
(But if it makes you feel better, Holly from high on the tree doesn't bother getting spiky =3 it only does that if its low and getting munched on)
For my part i just remember seeing a lot of red berry plants in american xmass movies and assuming that was mistletoe :')
IT'S HAPPENED SO OFTEN, ESPECIALLY WHEN DECORATING
LIKE WHYYYY
Won't happen again :P
A very pretty parasite
most painful of mistakes (and google image results do not help)
I also posted about this one 😭
(answer: the host lol)
I don't even remember what either one of them are called in my first language, so the bar is not high
Then I went looking around and found so many drawings of characters kissing under holly... It's an epidemic I never knew was happening...
Missile Toes
https://bsky.app/profile/supremedorian.bsky.social/post/3le35oltri22v
Yes, the generic Xmas holly and yerba mate are related, both belonging to the Ilex genus w/ all the other hollies
But mistletoe and hollies are not, they aren't even in the same order as each other (mistletoes being in Santalales and hollies being in Aquifoliales)
I like it here.
Every time the holidays come around this detail
drives me crazy
But to be fair - most of us making this mistake have never seen either of those irl 😭