6 Surprising Facts About Holiday Flowers and Plants :- The more the holidays get closer, the more flowers and plants are seen in decorations and homes. Beyond their beauty, these botanical components have fascinating backstories and startling facts that deepen their significance in holiday customs. Here are six unexpected holiday flower and plant facts that may help you appreciate them more this particular time of year:
6 Surprising Facts About Holiday Flowers and Plants
The closer the Christmas season, the more prominent flowers and plants are in homes and décor. These botanical components are not only beautiful to look at, but they also have interesting stories and surprising information that add to their importance in celebration traditions. These six surprising facts about Christmas flowers and plants can help you appreciate them more this particular time of year:
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Once Thought to be a Purity Symbol, Poinsettias
The brilliant red and green foliage of poinsettias makes them classic Christmas symbols. Native to Mexico, they have the name Joel Roberts Poinsett, after the first American minister to Mexico, who brought the plant to the US in the early 1800s. The fact that poinsettias were formerly treasured for their therapeutic qualities and regarded by the Aztecs as a representation of purity surprises many people. They are mostly recognized these days for their Christmastime decorative value.
A Peace and Love Symbol, Mistletoe
A custom originating in old folklore is hanging mistletoe throughout the holidays. Mistletoe was thought by Druids to possess supernatural abilities to stave off bad spirits and provide good fortune. As peace and love were associated with mistletoe in Norse mythology, kissing beneath it became a customary greeting of friendliness and goodwill. Because of this ongoing custom in many countries, mistletoe is a well-liked Christmas symbol of love.
Not Just Christmastime Uses for the Christmas Cactus
Despite its name, Schlumbergera, or Christmas cactus, is not only seen around that time of year. Usually blooming in the winter, these native Brazilian plants respond naturally to shorter days and lower temperatures. But given enough care, they can bloom many times a year, surprising indoor gardeners with their vivid, pendulous blossoms in shades of pink, red, and white.
Symbolic and Religious Significance of Holly Leaves
For eons, holly has represented Christmas with its shiny green foliage and vivid crimson berries. Christian belief holds that the berries stand in for Jesus’ blood and the thorny leaves for the crown of thorns he wore. Holly was honored as a fertility and perpetual life emblem in paganism. Its link to Christmas expanded in the Victorian era when holly became a well-liked house decoration.
The Menorah’s Olive Branch History and Hanukkah
The menorah is very important symbolically during Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Olive branches were used traditionally to build menorahs, which stood for both peace and the Hanukkah story. Over the eight-day celebration, olive oil—which is made from olives—was necessary to light candles. Menorahs are lighted today to celebrate the eight-day oil miracle, and olive branches continue to be an important component of Jewish religious and cultural history.
Significance of the Evergreen Tree in Renewal
An indoor wintertime ritual that predates Christmas itself is decorating evergreen trees. Because evergreens survived the worst winters, ancient peoples—including the Romans and Egyptians—hailed them as emblems of eternal life and renewal. The Christmas tree custom began when German Christians introduced ornamented evergreen trees into their houses in the sixteenth century as a representation of the paradise tree in the Adam and Eve account.