Threats to mistletoe

Auckland's beech mistletoe in flower

Mistletoe populations have declined all over New Zealand since the early 1900s mainly due to possum browse, vegetation clearance and decline in native bird species, which act as pollinators and seed-dispersers. 

Rats are also suspected of eating mistletoe and insects damage them. 

In Auckland, mistletoe has been lost from three-quarters of the places it once grew since the mid-1800s.