See text Viscum is a genus of about 70–100 species of mistletoes, native to temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia.

Its name is the origin of the English word viscous, after the Latin viscum, a sticky bird lime made from the plants' berries.

The foliage is dichotomously or verticillately branching, with opposite pairs or whorls of green leaves which perform some photosynthesis (minimal in some species, notably V. nudum), but with the plant drawing its mineral and water needs from the host tree.

Viscum species are poisonous to humans; eating the fruit causes a weak pulse and acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain and diarrhea.

[4] †Viscum morlotii from the early Miocene, has been described from fossil leaf compressions that have been found in the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, the Czech Republic.