Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet the plants associated with Christmas, particularly in northern Europe and North America, have no direct link to the Christmas story. They are in fact relics of pre-Christian ritual.

Northern Europe experiences seasons and marked changes in day length through the year. The winters are dark and cold and the landscape is grey and bare as most trees shed their leaves at this time. In prehistoric times Europeans celebrated the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The few plants that remained green during the winter months must have been obvious candidates for use as decorations for the winter festivities. They would have represented the hope for new life as the days lengthened after the solstice, and the eventual arrival of Spring. Christianity supplanted the Winter Solstice with Christ’s Nativity, but kept the evergreen symbolism of earlier days.

There are four sorts of decorative plant that spring to mind when Christmas is mentioned. Firstly, there are the Christmas trees. These are coniferous trees that keep their needles throughout the year. Only parts of Europe appear to have a long tradition of Solstice trees, but the fashion for them spread in the Nineteenth Century and has become almost universal. The Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and the Silver Fir (Abies alba) are the most commonly used species for Christmas trees, though many others are suitable. They are generally small saplings planted densely to produce relatively narrow plants of 2-3 m tall suitable for homes.

The other three Christmas plants are holly, ivy and mistletoe. Holly (hex aquifolium) is a tree with dark green, shiny, prickly leaves. Holly trees are either male or female, and the female trees bear clusters of bright red berries among the leaves. Branches and twigs of holly, preferably with berries, have symbolised Christmas for centuries. The name holly probably derives from ‘holy’ indicating the spiritual significance of the plant.

Ivy (Hedera helix) is a climbing plant that grows up tree trunks and walls using adventitious roots from the stem to clasp the supporting tree or masonry. Not only does it stay green through the European winter, it will actually flower if the weather is mild.

Mistletoe (Viscum album) is unique among the flora of northern Europe in being the only epiphytic parasite. It grows on trees and taps into the xylem (water-conducting tissues) of the host. The mistletoe plants are evergreen and symbolise fertility, which may account for the association between the plant and kissing.

Many residents of Singapore celebrate Christmas, and Christmas trees and other decorative plants of the season are available as imports from temperate regions. But these are expensive, often arrive in poor condition and deteriorate further very rapidly in the tropical warmth. So are there any local alternatives that can do the job?