Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae, Phylum: Magnoliophyta, Class: Angiospermae, Category: Basal core eudicots, Order: Santalales, Family: Santalaceae, Genus: Viscum, Species: Viscum album L. (EPPO 2024).

From the first half of the XVIII. century until modern times taxonomy of the mistletoe has been a subject of discussions and the existence of many species, subspecies or forms is not agreed generally (Zuber 2004, Melo et al. 2023). Most of the parasitic plants, including Viscum, have traditionally been included by botanists in the family Loranthaceae Juss. (Kuijt 1969, Visser 1981). However, the taxonomic position of mistletoe, as a result of all the knowledge about its origin, evolution, distribution and biology, has provoked conflicting opinions. Separation of the new family Viscaceae from the existing family Loranthaceae s. lato in the Santalales order seems appropriate because of the different evolutionary lineages and modes of parasitism on branches and other organs of host trees (Barlow 1964, Richardson 1978, Barlow and Martin 1984, Tachtadžjan 1987). Barlow (1964) also emphasizes that although the two families have independent origins, their ancestry should be sought in the Santalaceae family R. Br.

According to the International Plant Name Index (IPNI 2024) and the World Flora Online (WFO 2025), following infraspecific taxa are defined: V. album subsp. abietis (Wiesb.) Abrom., V. album subsp. austriacum (Wiesb. Ex Dichtl) Vollm, V. album subsp. coloratum Kom., V. album subsp. creticum N.Böhling, Greuter, Raus, B.Snogerup, Snogerup et Zuber, V. album subsp. lutescens (Makino) Kitag., V. album subsp. meridianum (Danser) D.G.Long, V. album f. rubroaurantiacum (Makino) Kitag. The subspecies are often considered as synonyms to species names, e.g. Viscum album subsp. coloratum Kom. and V. album f. rubroaurantiacum (Makino) Kitag are treated by the Flora of China as a distinct species Viscum coloratum (Kom) Nakai. (Melo et al. 2023).