"more widespread throughout Britain. By the 1870s, people in the United States had adopted the custom of putting up a Christmas tree. Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments. Since the 16th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas carrying the Christian symbolism of the Star of Bethlehem; in that country it is known in Spanish as the ""Flower of the Holy Night"". Other popular holiday plants include holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus. Along with a Christmas tree, the interior of a home may be decorated with these plants, along"
"a gift for the celebration of Jesus' birthday and was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds and became poinsettias. From the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations. The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and the red color represents the blood sacrifice through the crucifixion of Jesus. Poinsettias are popular Christmas decorations in homes, churches, offices, and elsewhere across North America. They are available in large numbers from grocery,"
"drug, and hardware stores. In the United States, December 12 is National Poinsettia Day. Albert Ecke emigrated from Germany to Los Angeles in 1900, opening a dairy and orchard in the Eagle Rock area. He became intrigued by the plant and sold them from street stands. His son, Paul Ecke, developed the grafting technique, but it was the third generation of Eckes, Paul Ecke Jr., who was responsible for advancing the association between the plant and Christmas. Besides changing the market from mature plants shipped by rail to cuttings sent by air, he sent free plants to television stations for"
"from tropical regions of Asia, cultivated ""Serissa"" often blooms during the winter. On the occasion of Christmas Eve, it is traditional for young women in North America to exchange specially designed Christmas roses with each other resembling their spirit of fraternity. Another plant known as Christmas rose is Helleborus niger. In New Zealand, the pōhutukawa tree is often associated with Christmas, as its bright red flowers usually appear in December. Holly is the plant most associated with Christmas in many European countries. Holly wreaths are hung on doors, and sprigs of holly used to trim Christmas puddings. Like most of"
"most Christian churches continue to display the traditional Christmas tree in their sanctuaries during Christmastide. In 2005, the city of Boston renamed the spruce tree used to decorate the Boston Common a ""Holiday Tree"" rather than a ""Christmas Tree"". The name change was reversed after the city was threatened with several lawsuits. Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as spruce, pine, or fir or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas, originating in Northern Europe. The custom was developed in medieval Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia), and"
"is called ""bent el consul"", ""the consul's daughter"", referring to the U.S. ambassador Joel Poinsett. There are over 100 cultivated varieties of poinsettia. In areas outside its natural environment, it is commonly grown as an indoor plant where it prefers good morning sun, then shade in the hotter part of the day. Contrary to popular belief, flowering poinsettias can be kept outside, even during winter, as long as they are kept frost-free. It is widely grown and very popular in subtropical climates such as Australia, Rwanda and Malta. The plant requires a daily period of uninterrupted long, dark nights followed"
"North Carolina, has been called the ""Cadillac of Christmas Trees"" as well as the ""most popular and most valuable of Christmas tree species"". In the southern United States, Virginia pine is a popular Christmas tree species. In Canada, white pine, white spruce, Scots pine, blue spruce and Fraser fir are commonly cultivated. In the province of Ontario, Scots pine has always dominated both the domestic and export markets. Other regions of the world also have different favorites when it comes to natural Christmas trees, and Christmas tree farms reflect these; In Europe, Norway spruce is popular. Many of the conifer"
"Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as spruce, pine, or fir or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas, originating in Northern Europe. The custom was developed in medieval Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia), and in early modern Germany where Protestant Germans brought decorated trees into their homes. It acquired popularity beyond the Lutheran areas of Germany and the Baltic countries during the second half of the 19th century, at first among the upper classes. The tree was traditionally decorated with ""roses made of colored paper, apples,"
"the bulb. Proiphys amboinensis Proiphys amboinensis (syn. ""Eurycles amboinensis"") was named after the island of Ambiona, now Ambon, in Indonesia. Common names include Cardwell lily and northern Christmas lily (as it usually flowers around Christmas). It is considered native to Thailand, Indonesia (Maluku, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok, Timor), the Philippines, the Bismark Archipelago, Vanuatu, New Guinea, Queensland and Western Australia. Is also naturalized in Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Niue, Society Islands, Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands. ""Proiphys amboinensis"" produces nearly circular leaves followed by attractive scented white flowers with yellow throats. The larger leaves can be over 25 cm long"
"Dictionary states that it is ""based on [the] Chinese 伽藍菜 gāláncài"", whilst the Collins English Dictionary merely restates the claim that the generic name was derived from the local Chinese name for one of the species. The specific epithet ""blossfeldiana"" is in tribute to German hybridiser and botanist Robert Blossfeld, who first introduced the plant to the rest of the world in 1932. The common name Christmas Kalanchoe comes from the plant's flamboyant and colourful blooms in winter. ""Kalanchoe blossfeldiana"" is a glabrous, bushy, evergreen and perennial succulent plant which (in 2–5 years) can reach an ultimate height of between"
"Pouteria campechiana Pouteria campechiana (commonly known as the canistel) is an evergreen tree native to, and cultivated in, southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador. It is cultivated in other countries, such as Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, Taiwan, Australia,Cambodia Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and the Philippines. The edible part of the tree is its fruit, which is colloquially known as an egg fruit. The canistel grows up to high, and produces orange-yellow fruit, also called yellow sapote, up to long, which are edible raw. Canistel flesh is sweet, with a texture often compared to that of"
"outside the Christmas Island National Park. Asplenium listeri Asplenium listeri, commonly known as the Christmas Island spleenwort, is a species of fern in the Aspleniaceae family. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Its specific epithet honours British zoologist and plant collector Joseph Jackson Lister, who visited the island on in 1887 and was the first to collect a specimen. The spleenwort is a small, terrestrial, lithophytic fern with shortly creeping rhizomes, and with fronds up to 90 mm long held in a crown. Found only on Christmas Island, the fern is known"
"Morelos claims to be the native location of the poinsettia, called ""noche buena"" in Spanish. It is native to Mexico, but there has been a ""diplomatic patent"" on the plant since the early 19th century when the first US ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, registered it. The state's historical society has asked the Secretary of the Interior to review treaties and work to have this patent annulled. As it stands now, Mexican poinsettia growers must pay royalty fees to the U.S. and even import cuttings from authorized growers in the U.S. to grow the plant commercially. Another effort to"
"Polystichum acrostichoides Polystichum acrostichoides, commonly denominated Christmas fern, is a perennial, evergreen fern native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia, Canada west to Minnesota and south to Florida and eastern Texas. It is naturalized in Europe. It is one of the commonest ferns in eastern North America, being found in moist and shady habitats in woodlands, rocky slopes, and stream banks. The common name derives from the evergreen fronds which are often still green at Christmas in December. Christmas fern grows in a circular form with all the leaves arising from a single point on the ground. It can"
"this purpose. Fraser fir has been used more times as the White House Christmas tree (the official Christmas tree of the President of the United States's White House) than any other tree. It is grown in plantations in Scotland and sold by the thousands throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is also cultivated from seedlings in several northern states in the USA and adjacent parts of Quebec province, especially for the Christmas tree trade. The combination of form, needle retention, dark blue-green color, pleasant scent and excellent shipping characteristics has led to Fraser fir being a most popular Christmas"
"Island, New Zealand, Bermuda, Mexico and the United States (Oregon, California, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) and South America. ""Narcissus tazetta"" is grown commercially for its essential oil, mostly in southern France. An interspecies hybrid, with ""Narcissus poeticus"", is also grown for its essential oil. Narcissus tazetta Narcissus tazetta (paperwhite, bunch-flowered narcissus, bunch-flowered daffodil, Chinese sacred lily, cream narcissus, joss flower, polyanthus narcissus) is a perennial ornamental plant that grows from a bulb. Cultivars of ""N. tazetta"" include 'Paperwhite', 'Grand Soleil d'Or' and 'Ziva', which are popularly used for forcing indoors,"
"on that date. Christmas traditions in the United States have many eclectic origins with those from the United Kingdom predominant, but many others over the past 400 years have come from Scandinavia, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and, most recently, Spanish speakers from Latin America and the Caribbean during the 20th century. Therefore, the substrate of the meal usually is British in origin: roasted root vegetables as a side dish, mashed potatoes, gravy, and the centerpiece being a stuffed roasted fowl (pheasant, goose, duck, or turkey) or an expensive cut of roasted beef or beef Wellington. In the South, an"
"be red to reddish-purple, sometimes with brownish spots. Alstroemeria pulchella Alstroemeria pulchella is a South American species of flowering plant in the family Alstroemeriaceae. It is native to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay but widely cultivated as an ornamental and escaped into the wild in Australia (New South Wales and Norfolk Island), New Zealand, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the southeastern United States (eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida). Common names include Peruvian lily, parrot flower, parrot lily, lily of the Incas, princess lily, and New Zealand Christmas bell. ""Alstroemeria pulchella"" is a perennial herb with underground tubers. Flowers"
"are dispersed by birds and humans. This invasive species was introduced to the United States in the early twentieth century as an ornamental species. It was observed to have escaped cultivation in 1982. Preparations made from the root of ""Ardisia crenata"" are used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Christmas berry is an upright perennial shrub that grows tall. It maintains a caespitose growth pattern and is often multi-trunked. Christmas berry prefers moist soil and germination can occur from pH 4 to pH 10. It does well in temperatures of 25 °C and above. Germination rates are as high"
"Proiphys amboinensis Proiphys amboinensis (syn. ""Eurycles amboinensis"") was named after the island of Ambiona, now Ambon, in Indonesia. Common names include Cardwell lily and northern Christmas lily (as it usually flowers around Christmas). It is considered native to Thailand, Indonesia (Maluku, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok, Timor), the Philippines, the Bismark Archipelago, Vanuatu, New Guinea, Queensland and Western Australia. Is also naturalized in Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Niue, Society Islands, Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands. ""Proiphys amboinensis"" produces nearly circular leaves followed by attractive scented white flowers with yellow throats. The larger leaves can be over 25 cm long have a"
"the Czech Republic, and Canada. Pausinystalia johimbe Pausinystalia johimbe, (Rubiaceae), common name yohimbe, is a plant species native to western and central Africa (Nigeria, Cabinda, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea). Extracts from yohimbe have been used in traditional medicine in West Africa as an aphrodisiac and have been marketed in developed countries as dietary supplements. Yohimbe is one of five ""Pausinystalia"" evergreen species growing in West and Central Africa in lowland forests. The tree grows about 30m tall, with a straight bole that is rarely larger than 50–60 cm in diameter. The bark is grey to reddish-brown, with longitudinal fissures,"
"Alstroemeria psittacina Alstroemeria psittacina, with the common names Peruvian lily, parrot flower, parrot lily, lily of the Incas, and princess lily. It is a native plant of the Cerrado and Pantanal vegetation in Brazil and Argentina. ""Alstroemeria psittacina"" is cultivated as an ornamental plant by plant nurseries, for use in temperate gardens, such as in California. It is a popular ornamental plant in New Zealand, where it usually blooms at Christmas because that it is also called New Zealand Christmas bell. In addition, this plant is cited as an invasive plant, and it is a natural host range of the"
"Asplenium listeri Asplenium listeri, commonly known as the Christmas Island spleenwort, is a species of fern in the Aspleniaceae family. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Its specific epithet honours British zoologist and plant collector Joseph Jackson Lister, who visited the island on in 1887 and was the first to collect a specimen. The spleenwort is a small, terrestrial, lithophytic fern with shortly creeping rhizomes, and with fronds up to 90 mm long held in a crown. Found only on Christmas Island, the fern is known from a very small number of"
"Poland, Pope John Paul II's country of origin, but not in the Vatican at the time. The first tree came from Italy. Since then, the offering of the Christmas Tree to the Pope has become an honour, and each year the Vatican accepts a tree donated by a different European country or region.<ref name=""NECN/APTV""></ref> The Christmas tree is installed in the centre of Saint Peter's Square, together with a life-size nativity scene that is unveiled on Christmas Eve. The nativity scene has seventeen life-size statues. Of these, nine are the original figures donated in 1842 by Saint Vincent Pallotti for"
"upon the location. Since then, the singing Christmas tree concept has spread to Canada, the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland and Sri Lanka. The most attended tree takes place in Knoxville, Tennessee, with 60,000 attendees in 2007. The first Christmas trees came to the United States in the 1740s from Moravian (now part of the Czech Republic) settlers. In 1851, the first commercial tree lot in the United States was set up in New York City. President of the United States Franklin Pierce set up the first Christmas tree in the White House in 1856. Artificial trees were first developed in"
"on 13 February 2007. Blandfordia punicea Blandfordia punicea, commonly known as Tasmanian Christmas bell, is a species of flowering plant which is native to western Tasmania in Australia. The bell-shaped flowers are red with yellow tips and are about 4 cm long. They occur in a terminal raceme on a stalk up to 1 metre in height and are usually very prominent in their native habitat, often rising above ground-level vegetation between mid-spring and early autumn. The leaves, which are strap-like and slightly serrated on the edges, range between 15 and 45 cm in length. An Australian 50c stamp depicting"
"original symbolic association with death in the traditions of Mexico, as in the Day of the Dead, parallel to the Lily in Europe. November: Chrysanthemum, which stands for cheerfulness and love, is associated with the month of November. According to Feng Shui, Chrysanthemums bring happiness and laughter in the house. December: Poinsettia. These flowers are typically associated with Christmas. While considered by the ancient Aztecs to be symbols of purity, in today's language of flowers, red, white or pink poinsettias, the December birth flower, symbolize good cheer and success and are said to bring wishes of mirth and celebration. Birth"
"Blandfordia punicea Blandfordia punicea, commonly known as Tasmanian Christmas bell, is a species of flowering plant which is native to western Tasmania in Australia. The bell-shaped flowers are red with yellow tips and are about 4 cm long. They occur in a terminal raceme on a stalk up to 1 metre in height and are usually very prominent in their native habitat, often rising above ground-level vegetation between mid-spring and early autumn. The leaves, which are strap-like and slightly serrated on the edges, range between 15 and 45 cm in length. An Australian 50c stamp depicting the species was issued"
"Lonicera fragrantissima Lonicera fragrantissima is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names winter honeysuckle, fragrant honeysuckle, January jasmine, Chinese honeysuckle, kiss-me-at-the-gate, and sweet breath of spring. It is native to China and has been an introduced species to other parts of the world. It was brought to the attention of western gardeners by Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune, who was plant hunting in China for the Royal Horticultural Society. Fortune introduced ""Lonicera fragrantissima"" to England in 1845, and a few years later it was introduced to the United States. In 1853 the editor"
"April and May in China. The common Christmas orchid was first formally described in 1796 by (Pierre) Remi Willemet, who gave it the name ""Orchis triplicata"" and published the description in Paul Usteri's book ""Annalen der Botanick"". In 1907, Oakes Ames changed the name to ""Calanthe triplicata"". The specific epithet (""triplicata"") is derived from the Latin prefix ""tris"" meaning ""thrice"" and ""plicatus"" meaning ""folded"". ""Calanthe troplicata"" is found in Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Assam, eastern Himalayas, southern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, south China, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Bismark Islands, New Guinea,"
"garlands of flowers for women to wear in their hair. Barleria cristata Barleria cristata (Philippine violet, bluebell barleria or crested Philippine violet), is a plant of the Acanthaceae family. It is native to a wide area ranging from Southern China to India and Myanmar. Cultivated as an ornamental plant in villages and gardens, it has become naturalized in Hawaii, where it grows in dry habitats. In Fiji, where it is known as """"tombithi"""" and in Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), the shrub grows also as a ruderal species along roadsides and disturbed areas from near sea level to about 100 m."
"Alstroemeria mosaic potyvirus. Alstroemeria psittacina Alstroemeria psittacina, with the common names Peruvian lily, parrot flower, parrot lily, lily of the Incas, and princess lily. It is a native plant of the Cerrado and Pantanal vegetation in Brazil and Argentina. ""Alstroemeria psittacina"" is cultivated as an ornamental plant by plant nurseries, for use in temperate gardens, such as in California. It is a popular ornamental plant in New Zealand, where it usually blooms at Christmas because that it is also called New Zealand Christmas bell. In addition, this plant is cited as an invasive plant, and it is a natural host"
"from Spain, France through Switzerland, Austria to Croatia, Greece and Ukraine. It is naturalized in Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Turkey, New Zealand, British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and much of the eastern United States, from Louisiana and Georgia north to Maine and Wisconsin. Poet's daffodil is cultivated in the Netherlands and southern France for its essential oil, narcissus oil, one of the most popular fragrances used in perfumes. Narcissus oil is used as a principal ingredient in 11% of modern quality perfumes—including 'Fatale' and 'Samsara'—as a floral concrete or absolute. The oil's fragrance"