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Plant of the Week

Plants of the Winter Solstice

By Larry Stritch

Closeup a of a juniper branch covered with snow.
Juniper. Photo by Art Whitehead.

American holly showing the bright green leaves and red berries.
American holly (Ilex opaca). Photo by Larry Stritch.

Many holiday traditions are celebrated during the season surrounding the winter solstice. Many people will have their community and family traditions and in many of these traditions, plants play a central role. Let us take a quick look at some of the plants used in many of the celebrations of the holiday season.

Oak and holly play an important role in many of our holiday celebrations surrounding the winter solstice. In ancient cultures the holly tree symbolized the waning sun commencing with the summer solstice and the oak tree symbolized the waxing sun commencing with the winter solstice. The Druids believed holly’s evergreen nature made it sacred and that it remained green throughout winter to keep the earth beautiful at a time when deciduous trees shed their leaves. Holly was used for decoration throughout homes with it being used for boughs over entrances to peoples’ homes or formed into holly wreaths that were hung on doors. Placing a ring of holly on doors originated in Ireland since holly was one of the main plants that was green and very beautiful with its red berries at this time of year and gave poor people a means of decorating their dwellings. Decorating one’s home with holly was believed to bring protection and good luck to the inhabitants in the coming year. Do you remember the seasonal song “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly?”

The Yule Log

oak tree.
White Oak (Quercus alba). Photo by Larry Stritch.

logs burning in a fireplace.
Yule log fire. Photo by Penny Stritch.

The “mighty oak” was the most sacred tree of Europe, representing the waxing sun, symbolized endurance, strength, protection, and good luck to people in the coming year. On the winter solstice, on the longest night of the year, people would place and set afire a giant oak log in a community fire pit or families would place a smaller oak log in their fireplace. This log became known as the “Yule log.” Tradition has it that the burning of the Yule log was performed to honor the Great Mother Goddess. The log would be lit on the eve of the solstice using the remains of the log from the previous year and would be burned for twelve hours for good luck and protection. As the fire began all other lights would be extinguished and the people would gather round the fire. In thanksgiving and appreciation for the events of the past year and in bidding the year farewell each person would toss dried holly twigs into the fire. The next phase of the burning of the Yule log commenced with people tossing oak twigs and acorns into the fire and they would shout out their hopes and resolutions for the coming New Year and sing Yuletide carols. The celebration of the Yule log fire ended with unburned pieces of the Yule log saved to start the fire of next winter’s solstice Yule log.

Mistletoe

Closeup a branch of mistletoe's white berries.
Mistletoe fruit and leaves. Photo by Steve Baskauf.

tree showing mistletoe growing in its branches.
Mistletoe attached high in the branches of an oak tree. Photo by Steve Baskauf.

Mistletoe is another important plant that is used in many holiday traditions surrounding the winter solstice. Druids believed that anything found growing on an oak tree had been sent from heaven and mistletoe found on oaks was especially sacred. In the Celtic language, mistletoe means “All heal” and it was thought to possess miraculous healing powers and hold the soul of the host tree. Mistletoe would be hung over the entry into peoples’ homes and atop doorways within their homes as a token of good will and peace to all comers. It is said that when warring Viking armies met under a tree in which mistletoe occurred that they would cease battle for the remainder of that day. Today, many people still hang mistletoe in their homes and couples kiss when they meet under the mistletoe. In some traditions each time a couple kiss under the mistletoe a single white berry is removed and the kissing ceases when the final berry is removed. There is a myth associated with this practice that stated if any unmarried women of the household went unkissed during the hanging of the mistletoe, they would not marry in the coming year.

The Yule Tree

decorated Christmas tree.
Christmas tree (Fraser fir, Abies fraseri). Photo by Larry Stritch

Lastly, decorating the Yule tree was also originally a pagan custom. Brightly colored decorations would be hung on evergreen trees such as pines, firs, cedars and junipers to symbolize the various stellar objects that were of significance to the pagans—the sun, moon, and stars—and to represent the souls of those who had died in the previous year. These evergreens symbolized the continuity of life and hopes for protection and prosperity in the New Year.

Capitol Christmas Tree

The 2010 Capitol Christmas Tree on the West Front lawn of the Capitol.
The 2010 Capitol Christmas Tree on the West Front lawn of the Capitol.

A National Forest provides the Capitol Christmas Tree, often called "the People's Tree," a tradition that started in 1970. Each year since then, a different National Forest and the State in which the Forest is located, are asked provide The Tree and all of the trimmings as a gift to our nation. The Speaker of the House officially lights the Capitol Christmas Tree.

This year’s tree — a 65-foot Sierra white fir — is from California’s Stanislaus National Forest.  2011 will be only the fourth year California has contributed the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, the last time was in 1995. Known as "The People’s Tree", the 2011 Capitol Christmas Tree was harvested on November 5, 2011, from the Stanislaus National Forest located in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The tree traveled 4,500 miles throughout California and across the country to Washington, D.C., making frequent stops in communities across the nation.

The tree arrived at the U.S. Capitol arrive at the U.S. Capitol on November 28. The lights on the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree were lit by Speaker of the House John Boehner during a ceremony on Tuesday, December 6, on the Capitol’s West Front lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

“Supplying ‘The People’s Tree,’ as it is commonly called, is an honor for our district and the state,” said Congressman Jeff Denham, who represents California’s 19th Congressional District. “This year’s tree showcases not only the beauty of California’s natural resources but the diversity of its cultures and charity of its residents. We take pride in knowing that this great representation of our district will be a symbol of the holidays in our nation’s Capitol this year.”

The tree will be lit from night fall until 11 p.m. each evening through January 1, 2012.

Read more about the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree 2011… 

The National Christmas Tree.
The National Christmas Tree.

The National Christmas Tree

The Capitol Christmas Tree should not to be confused with The National Christmas Tree, which is planted near the White House and lighted every year by the president and first lady.

The first National Christmas Tree was placed on the Ellipse south of the White House in December 1923. The tree was a 48-foot Balsam fir donated by the President of Middlebury College in Vermont. President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the Ellipse to light the tree from his native state. This first National Christmas Tree led to the tradition we celebrate today and along the way the tree’s location and the lighting ceremony have changed.

From 1924 to 1933 the tree, renamed the National Community Christmas Tree, was located in Sherman Park, which is south of the Main Treasury Building and southeast of the White House grounds. 

From 1934 to 1938 the National Christmas Tree was located in Lafayette Park on the north side of the White House. In 1939 and 1940, the tree was relocated to a spot just south of the center of the Ellipse.

The years 1941 to 1953 found the National Christmas Tree on the South Lawn of the White House. In 1941, on December 24, only weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill led the lighting ceremony and addressed the crowd.

In 1954 the location of the National Christmas Tree moved back to the Ellipse where it has been located ever since. After the death of two previous trees planted on the Ellipse, a Colorado blue spruce was planted on the Ellipse in 1978. The tree was 15 years old and 30 feet tall when it arrived in our Nation’s capital 31 years ago.

Visit the National Christmas Tree website…

Plant of the Week

Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea).
Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea)

Plant of the Week Gallery

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Location: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/winter_solstice.shtml
Last modified: Friday, 16-Dec-2011 15:19:46 EST