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How Plants Became Entangled In Our Christmas Traditions

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 09:55 pm

The plants connected with Christmas have fascinating and sometimes obscure stories to explain why. They tend to come from a mix of pagan and Christian traditions.

There is a legend about rosemary, for instance, that says the Virgin Mary draped her cloak over a rosemary bush while the holy family was fleeing Herod's wrath on their way to Egypt. The flowers had been white, but they took on the blue hue of Mary's cloak, and its sweet fragrance. Another legend says Mary spread baby Jesus' clothing on a rosemary bush to dry, and its wonderful scent is a reward for its humble service.

Rosemary grows well here, as long as it has mostly sun and soil that is well watered but never soggy. I've seen it thriving in the desert, so we are fortunate that it survives our wet summers. Those of us who know this plant cannot pass one without rubbing the leaves, and the scent stays on the hands for a long time.

There also is an herb called Lady's Bedstraw, Galium verum, that Mary supposedly used for the Christ child's bed. The pleasantly scented leaves and stems were long used for mattress stuffing. These do not grow here, but if you find dried ones in an herb shop or catalogue, they are said to be effective in pillows.
Evergreen plants such as holly, ivy, mistletoe and the many coniferous trees displayed at Christmas were part of nearly every winter celebration. Because they keep their color and foliage through the short, cold days of winter, they were a promise that life was still vibrant and its abundance would return. Thus, the song "The Holly and The Ivy." Christians early on learned to make the most of pagan traditions and turned the prickly leaves and blood-drop red berries of these plants into a symbol of the crown of thorns.

Hollies of many kinds, with smooth or prickly leaves, all with red berries on the female plants, grow well in Florida, and some of them are natives.

We can grow many kinds of ivy also, and these plants make for good ground cover in shade, or a cascading filler foliage in containers. We can't grow the Boston ivy that grows on the back wall of Wrigley Field, turns bright red in fall and has red berries that are an important source of food for winter wildlife but are poisonous for people. The ivy we can grow I have not seen bloom.

We have so much green and color year-round in Florida that, even with television, we only briefly think of the dreariness of northern winters, with the outside world largely gray.

One of my favorite Christmas songs from childhood choir days rang out, "From the manger bed what a path was led, what a perfect holy way." Another refers to the Christ child as the Christmas rose, which may be why roses are so often given as Christmas gifts.

Mistletoe myths started with the Druids in Britain about 100 A.D. They thought mistletoe could make miracles, help cure diseases, protect them from witches and help them have more babies. So, in the dark of winter, Druid priests would cut mistletoe out of the oak trees and give it to people to hang in their houses.

The tradition of kissing under mistletoe may have started with a Viking legend around 800 A.D. The Vikings had many gods. One of them, Balder, was killed with a poison made from mistletoe. His mother brought him back to life after three days by reversing the effects of the poison. The details of that reversal are unknown. When Balder was revived, his mother was so happy she kissed whoever walked under the mistletoe.

We have mistletoe growing wild in our oak trees and about this time of year, when many oak leaves have fallen, we see the dark green, bushel-basket-sized clumps of it. Mistletoe is a parasite that sinks it roots into the tree and takes the nutrients it needs. I had not seen it growing until we moved to Florida, and I find it fascinating, probably because it was an important part of Christmas in my childhood home.

Today's Pick

The East Palatka holly was discovered in 1927 near East Palatka in northeastern Florida, where it is often found in swampy areas along roadsides. It is one of several natural hybrids related to Ilex cassine, or Dahoon holly and Ilex opaca, or American holly. Being selected as the holly for the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 added to its popularity. The trees are evergreen, all female and can grow 30 feet tall in light, though they will stay smaller if grown in a container. They take on a nice pyramid form as they mature, and the red berries are quite decorative, especially near the top of the tree. Birds love the fruit. They have inconspicuous white flowers in spring. The rounded leaves usually have only one spine at the end.

They are hardy throughout northern and Central Florida but don't do well in the far south. They also grow along the western and southern borders of the United States, as far north as Zone 7, and surprisingly far up the East Coast. They have medium drought and salt tolerance and considerable storm resistance. A young one would be a good gift for anyone with room in their yard.

Now's The Time To ...

•Tell you about a new word I've just learned for something I've been doing for a long time. The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its 2007 word of the year. The local foods movement is gaining momentum as people discover that the best-tasting and most sustainable choices are foods that are fresh, seasonal and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the 100-Mile Diet or from advocates of local eating such as Barbara Kingsolver. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture programs and community gardens. Check out the produce stands and the classifieds to find well-grown food with the fewest poisons near you.

Monica Brandies can be reached at monicabrandies@yahoo.com.

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