The Impact of Environmental and Host Specificity in Seed Germination and Survival of Korean Mistletoe [Viscum album var. coloratum (Kom.) Ohwi]

Humankind has been searching for medicinal materials from various plant sources in an attempt to treat disease. Mistletoe is one indubitable plant source for these materials due to its effectiveness in treating various diseases, but it has almost disappeared from the mountainous areas of Korea due to excessive harvesting. In this study, in order to select host tree species for Korean mistletoe [Viscum album var. coloratum (Kom.) Ohwi] by seed inoculation and to clarify the effect of host specificity among various tree species were conducted for the purpose of gaining basic information for the artificial cultivation of Korean mistletoe. Almost all the seeds of Korean mistletoe germinated in vitro at the temperature of 15℃. Among host trees used in this study, Prunus mume showed the highest parasitic affinity with inoculated Korean mistletoe, compared with any other host plants. However, treatment of hormones could not increase the low survival rate of Korean mistletoe on the host trees.