Plants & Human Affairs - Introduction

Plants & Human Affairs (BIOL106) - Stephen G. Saupe, Ph.D.; Biology Department, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321; ssaupe@csbsju.edu; http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe

Christmas Botany

I. Plants and the holidays

most plants that we associate with Christmas have a long history

date to early pagan festivals

celebrating winter solstice - Dec 21^st

Church sought to root out pagan plants, which were considered evil or as symbols of old ways

people continued to use, therefore church adopted & Christianized the plants (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em)

in early Rome - Saturnalia - decked in greenery

N. Europe - Yule celebration, slaughter sheep, two month non-stop feasting to anticipate winter scarcity (even now we overindulge at the holidays)

II. Soma - Fly Agaric
It has been suggested that the origin of Santa Claus is the mushroom, Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric). There are many parallels between the mushroom and Santa:

Santa wears a red suit with white trim. The Fly agaric is an extremely beautiful mushroom that has a brilliant red cap with white spots.
Santa lives at the North Pole. The Fly agaric is a circumboreal mushroom that grows in association (called mycorrhizae) with conifers (Christmas trees!?) and deciduous trees such as birch. This mushroom has been used as an inebrient by inhabitants of these northerly climes, notably in the Kamchatka peninsula region of Siberia. In fact, the Fly agaric was the primary inebrient of these peoples until the 1500's when whalers and soldiers introduced vodka.
Santa has reindeer. Reindeer are common inhabitants of Siberia and are reported to have a "taste" for Fly agaric. It is also reported, but I question the validity of the reports, that if a person eats the flesh of an intoxicated reindeer, they too will become intoxicated.
Santa has elves for helpers. Approximately 20 minutes after ingestion of Fly agaric, most people fall into a deep, vision-filled sleep. During this period, the intoxicated individual may receive divine revelations from 'Mukhomor spirits', which are described as small (elves?) people. [As an aside, after awaking, the inebriated person reportedly feels elated and capable of exaggerated physical feats. It has been suggested, although it is most likely incorrect, that the Viking berserkers were inebriated with Fly agaric when they went on their barbaric raids.]
Santa enters your house through the chimney. The Mukhomor spirits, which provide divine guidance, enter a dwelling through the smoke hole.
For more information, check out the essay I wrote Is Santa a Hallucinogenic Mushroom?

III. Mistletoe

A. Taxonomy

several species - including Viscum album (European mistletoe), Phoradendron leucarpon (North American)

hemi-parasitic on tree branches

brittle stems, dichotomously branched, jointed nodes

roots are haustoria

fruit - berry, viscous layer surrounding seed, sometimes explosive

Phoradendron in the southeast US blooms in late autumn. The fruit takes more than year to mature.

B. Economic uses

Viscum and Phoradendron sold for mistletoe at Christmas

Arceuthobium (dwarf mistletoe, a holo-parasite) is pest on conifers

haustoria often cause witches broom, deformation of wood

C. History

early people fascinated with parasitic plants

believed to have spiritual powers - ward off evil

Druid priests in white robes harvested mistletoe with golden sickles and it was caught by virgins, distributed to homes to ward off evil.

harvest was accompanied by the sacrifice of 2 bulls

Christianized version - symbol of incarnation, just as Christ sprang from God through Mary

D. Christian legend

mistletoe was originally large tree

used to make Cross

shrunk to present size in shame

E. Norse Legend

Freya, Norse God of love and mother of Balder, asked all thing to protect her son

She forgot mistletoe

Balder bragged he was invincible

Loki, arch enemy, dared to prove invincible

shot arrow of mistletoe

killed him

Freya brought back to life with a kiss as we do now

berries picked by suitors as they steal a kiss

F. Parasites for the Holidays - an essay

IV. Christmas Trees
Check out the essay I have posted at my web site on Christmas trees. The take-home-message from this essay is that:

many species used
favorites have changed over time
current favorite (in ascending order of preference): red < white < scotch < balsam/frasier fir
Conifers have some neat adaptations for survival in cold climates. Check out "How Do They Do It?"

V. Poinsettia (Poinsettia pulcherrima)

introduced to US in 1825 by the US Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett
New World - Mexico
Mexican legend - young girl sad because there was no gift for the Christ child. She gathered green weeds. When she brought them to the alter they miraculously turned red
red bracts subtended the obscure flowers
milky sap
Poinsettia is not poisonous as it is sometimes incorrectly assumed
Growth - light sensitive; requires 12+ hours of darkness to make red bracts

VI. Christmas Cactus - Schlumbergera bridgesii

native to Brazil

light sensitive

requires darkness to flower

VII. Holly (Aquifoliaceae)

Ilex sp.

I. aquifolium (old world), I. opaca (New World)

revered because they are evergreen

chewed for strength & courage and to protect from evil spirits by warriors

Christianized - red berries - drops of Christ's blood; white flowers - his purity; thorns - his crown of thorns.

it was so revered from holy to holly

When Europeans arrived used I. opaca. They believed that if holly is brought inside it would placate and make woodland spirits happy that live within

male and female trees (dioecious)

often hand-pollinated because there is little pollen

grown extensively in WA and OR

can collect in wild, but rare to uncommon because of over picking

good wood instruments, furniture, fine grained wood

Another essay: Winterberry for the HollyDays