Viscum album var. meridianum Danser, Blumea 4: 274. 1941; V. costatum Gamble.

Shrubs dioecious, 30-50 cm tall. Branching apical, dichotomous or polychotomous, terete; internodes 3-7 cm, nodes swollen. Leaves sessile or subsessile; leaf blade usually obovate, sometimes elliptic to lanceolate, 3-5 × 1.5-2.5 cm, leathery, 3-5(-7)-veined, base cuneate, apex rounded. Inflorescences terminal. Male inflorescences cymes; peduncle ± absent; 3-flowered, central flower with 2 bracts, lateral flowers each with 1 bract; bracts triangular, 2-3 mm. Pedicel ca. 5 mm. Female inflorescences 3-5-flowered cymose spikes; peduncle 1-2 mm; lateral flowers each with 1 bract, terminal flower with 2 bracts or not; bracts triangular, 2-2.5 mm. Male flowers subglobose in bud, ca. 2 mm; perianth lobes 4, triangular. Anthers elliptic. Female flowers ovoid in bud, 2.5-3 mm; perianth lobes triangular, 1.5-2 mm. Stigma nipple-shaped. Berry yellow, ellipsoid, 8 × 6 mm, smooth. Fl. Nov-Mar, fr. Jul-Dec.

The plants have medicinal uses and are parasitic on Carpinus monbeigiana, Juglans regia, Prunus pseudocerasus, Sorbus megalocarpa, and species of Acer.

Viscum album var. album differs primarily by a globose, greenish white berry. It occurs from Europe through to the Himalayas (Nepal) and could occur in S Xizang; records from the north of the Flora area are mostly misidentifications of V. coloratum.

Forests; 1300-2700 m. S Xizang (Gyirong, Zayü), Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar, Sikkim, N Vietnam].