You've seen these before but in the winter in 'skeleton' form - they are all that remain of a plantation of 100 poplars. They've all, apart from these few 'survivors', been killed off by the mistletoe which is destined to the same fate.
I liked this view as it shows that quite clearly - the tree on the left is completely dead, as is the mistletoe that killed it.
I never knew that mistletoe that we put out for kissing in Christmas was a parasite. I will never look at it the same. Well I never knew before 365 that is to say.
@joysabin Yes Joy - the mistletoe sucks sap from its host so when the host tree dies its food supply is cut off. If you look at the dead tree on the left you can see a couple of growths that look like multi-legged spiders - that's dead mistletoe. Contrast that with the live mistletoe on the second tree from the right.
