This Christmas it is quite possible your house has been attatcked by some form of plantlife...many of you will have invited it in. Here I would like to explain the origins of those Christmas plants, and welcome anyone to comment with their own knowledge or customs. Mistltoe will get an article to itself at a later date.

Fir Tree: Though there are now a few varieties available, many of you will have a Christmas tree, natural or not. The importance of such tree;s can be traced back to Pagan times when the evergreen was seen as a symbol of new life and hope for the coming year. In 719 St Boniface, who had dedicated his life to coverting the Pagans to Christianity, was sent to Germany where he found pagans worshipping the Oak tree. So the story goes, he cut down the tree in a violent rage, and in its place grew a Fir tree which he deemed a new symbol of Christianity.
The first tree to be decorated was in Germany in 1570 and it was covered in fruits and nuts. On Christmas day, this tree was presented to Children.
In Britain, the tree was introduced via the royal family in the 1800's, who were themselves German. By the time of Victoria's reign they were popular throughout the country and that popularity has never faded, though now many people replace a real tree with fibre optics, tinsel ot simply plastic ones.

Holly and Ivy: The Druids saw the Holly as a fertility symbol and used it many rituals to represent the male, whereas the Ivy represents female. Holly also has Christian connections, for the white flowers represent Mary's milk, the red berry is the Lords blood and it is suggested the leaves made part of the Crown of Thorns. It is widely used even today to decorate Churches and homes with the strongly coloured plant. Ivy was used in some customs to predict the follow year. On New Years Eve a leaf from the Ivy was placed in a bowl of water. On the Twelfth Night, if the leaf was still green it suggested a good year, but if the leaf had begun to turn brown, it was forecast a bad omen.

Poinesstia: Also known as the Mexican Flame Leaf it naturally grows up to 4 metres in its homeland. In December, the leaves turn a bright firey red, far outshadowing the small yellow flowers inside. The plant was discovered in 1820 by Dr Joel Poinsett but in the state it was in it was too big for the average household. By the late 1960', Dr Paul Ecke of Calafornia had successfuly added a dwrafing hormone to the plant and it was ready to become a Christmas favourite, mostly due to its bright red colour. There is also a tale connected to this plant. It tells the tale of Maria, who wept because she was too poor to give a gift at the Christmas service. An angel saw this and told Maria to take the top leaves from a nearby Poinssetia. The congregation laughed at Maria and her green weeds until suddenly the turned a violent red and the all kneeled in front of the plant.

Robins Of course we are talking about the European Robin here, and even moreso the British Robin. Those in the UK will know the Robin is to be found in many decorations and cards at Christmas. This small bird is quite tame in relation to other local birds and in winter is even known to enter peoples home in search of food. This mixed with his bright red breast makes him a popular winter symbol. In terms of any real Christmas connection there is the story that the fire keeping the baby Jesus warm had begun to fade. Mary feared it would go out until a few little brown birds flew in and fanned the flames with their wings. Afterward, Mary saw that they had burnt their little chests red raw. From then on, she blessed them with a bright red breast to let the world know what they had done for her.

Reindeer Did you know they have a taste for human urine? This is because they explore humans with their noses. They have broad spalyed hooves that act like snow-shoes and help them dig for food. They also have a bone in their feet which click to communicate. They live on a diet of lichens and mosses so they have special bacteria in their gut to extract the nutrients and it also produces small amounts of alcohol.
One fact that not many know, is that Santa's reindeer didn't all have to be male as the females grow them as well. In fact, they males shed their antlers each winter while the females lose theirs in spring. To get around this problem, in Lapland they have many castrated reindeer who keep their antlers for longer than the bulls. However, it might be a nicer thought to sat Santa's reindeer have antlers all year round because they are magic, not because they have no balls.