Christmas 2022
Special Edition - Christmas Plant Trivia by SmartHerbals:
Poinsettia, a plant with strikingly coloured leaves, was the royal plant of the Aztecs, called cuetlaxochitl (please don’t ask me to say it!). The name comes from Joel Roberts Poinsett - a “Southern gentleman” of Huguenot descent (they didn’t ALL end up in Franschhoek).
Holly (various species of the genus Ilex) is considered a cosmopolitan genus (no, they’re not particularly sophisticated - it just means they grow almost everywhere with a similar climate). The genus also contains Ilex paraguariensis, used to make yerba mate tea.
Mistletoes are shrubs that form a haustorium (a root-like structure) to access the sap in the host plant’s xylem (that transports water from the roots to the leaves). Traditional Christmas mistletoe is Viscum album (European Mistletoe), with sticky berries that ripen from November to December.
Hedera helix, the common ivy, has been used by humans for a very long time - in the Bronze Age, ivy was collected to provide fodder for animals. We know this because we find ivy pollen in manure layers!
Sources:
Taylor, J.M., Lopez, R.G., Currey, C.J. and Janick, J., 2011. The poinsettia: History and transformation. Chronica Horticulturae, 51(3), pp.23-28.
Yao, X., Song, Y., Yang, J.B., Tan, Y.H. and Corlett, R.T., 2021. Phylogeny and biogeography of the hollies (Ilex L., Aquifoliaceae). Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 59(1), pp.73-82.
Zuber, D., 2004. Biological flora of central Europe: Viscum album L. Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 199(3), pp.181-203.
Simmons, I.G. and Dimbleby, G.W., 1974. The possible role of ivy (Hedera helix L.) in the Mesolithic economy of Western Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1(3), pp.291-296.
Images: Pixabay - Angelina Ho (Poinsettia), Freddy (Holly), Stefan Schweihofer (Mistletoe), Hans (Ivy)
