Viscum album treatment of cancer originated with Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. Although laboratory and animal experiments have suggested that mistletoe extract may affect the immune system and be able to kill some kinds of cancer cells, there is little evidence of its benefit to people with cancer. The sticky juice of mistletoe berries was used to make birdlime, an adhesive to trap small animals or birds. Viscum album Viscum album is a species of mistletoe in the family Santalaceae, commonly known as European mistletoe, common mistletoe or simply as mistletoe (Old English "mistle"). It is native to Europe and western
Common name nomenclature is a global system that attempts to denote particular organisms or taxa uniquely and , on the assumption that such organisms or taxa are well-defined and generally also have well-defined interrelationships; accordingly the ICZN has formal rules for biological nomenclature and convenes periodic international meetings to further that purpose. The form of scientific names for organisms that are called binomial nomenclature is superficially similar to the noun-adjective form of vernacular names or common names which were used by prehistoric cultures. A collective name such as "owl" was made more precise by the addition of an adjective such as "screech".