Mistletoe

Mistletoe is found in the US, Canada, Mexico, and some parts of Europe, yet the trees seen in these photographs are in Windsor and Sebastopol, California. Though the geographic locations cover a small region, they have broad implications. This work is inspired by the debate around whether forms of lichen harm, or even kill, the trees they grow on as hosts. Mistletoe is an evergreen shrub that is semi-parasitic on other plants. Instead of producing roots in the ground, it sends out root-like structures into tree branches, stealing water and nutrients, weighing down the branches, and blocking the light essential to the life of the host plant.