Definition of "misseltoe"

In the case of the misseltoe, which draws its nourishment from certain trees, which has seeds that must be transported by certain birds, and which has flowers with separate sexes absolutely requiring the agency of certain insects to bring pollen from one flower to the other, it is equally preposterous to account for the structure of this parasite, with its relations to several distinct organic beings, by the effects of external conditions, or of habit, or of the volition of the plant itself.

1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Introduction”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], page 3