The traditional Christmas decoration that is a parasitic plant is mistletoe.

Quick Scoop

  • Mistletoe grows attached to and drawing water and nutrients from host trees, which makes it a parasitic plant.
  • The common Christmas mistletoe (often American or European mistletoe) forms clumps of green on otherwise bare winter branches and is harvested for holiday decorations.
  • Despite its romantic association with kissing at Christmas, mistletoe can stress or weaken its host trees if heavily infested.

So if you ever hear the trivia question “Which traditional Christmas decoration is a parasitic plant?”, the answer is mistletoe—beautiful, symbolic, and secretly a tree thief.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.