mistletoe
Refers to mistletoe, especially the European species Viscum album, but also used for Japanese mistletoe species.
Mistletoe grows by parasitizing other trees.
There is a custom of decorating with mistletoe at Christmas.
parasitic plant
General term for any plant that lives on another plant; less common than the specific mistletoe sense.
Various parasitic plants can be seen in this forest.
Scientific term for parasitic plant; 宿り木 is the common name for mistletoe and can refer to parasitic plants in general.
Standard kanji spelling for mistletoe.
Variant kanji spelling; less common than 宿り木.
Kana spelling; common in everyday writing.
Rare kanji spelling; literally 'parasitic tree'.
From 宿り (yadori, 'lodging') + 木 (ki, 'tree'), referring to a plant that 'lodges' on trees.