With the onset of autumn, when sunlight is shaved away with every passing day, fear of darkness and the unknown troubled early humankind. Although the air grew chillier and trees were bare, the bright red berry-like drupes and glossy evergreen leaves of European holly (Ilex aquifolium) signaled a reason for hope. Not everything in the landscape appeared to be dying.
Before every winter solstice, ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture, abundance, and renewal. The festivities reminded Romans that the world would not be plunged into darkness. Work was suspended and social norms relaxed; slaves and citizens alike participated; raucous behavior sometimes ensued; wreaths and boughs of holly appeared everywhere, indoors and out; when presents were exchanged, a little holly sprig was tied to each gift. The celebration evolved to last seven days, beginning before the solstice and continuing until December 25, which was the winter solstice by the Julian calendar.
When early Christians defied the worship of Saturn and other Roman deities, trials and executions ensued. These Christians, fearing further persecution, adopted holly as ornamentation during Saturnalia festivities as a kind of mask but altered the symbolism. To them, the spiny thorns along the plant’s leaf margins represented Jesus’ crown of thorns, while the red fruits signified droplets of blood. Early Christians didn’t celebrate the birth of Jesus per se but were acknowledging Christ’s sacrifice at the crucifixion.
Eventually, in the fourth century, with multitudes of religious conversions, Christianity took hold throughout the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine, a Christian himself, approved Dec. 25 as the day of Jesus’ birth. What had always been a pagan holiday eventually morphed into a Christian holiday, with holly one of the many remaining remnants.
In the British Isles and other parts of Europe, both pagan and Christian traditions have also employed holly. In one ancient ritual, a boy was donned in holly branches to represent the masculine forces of nature, while a girl was decked in ivy to represent the feminine. Together they were paraded through their village to welcome the winter solstice. Ironically, holly is dioecious, with separate male and female plants necessary for reproduction. Berry-like fruits only appear on the female plants, those most enlisted for ornamentation. A traditional British Christmas carol traced to the fifteenth century, “The Holly and the Ivy,” weaves the tale of Jesus’ birth, recasting this pagan custom into a Christian version. In another Christian myth, a holly bush sprouted leaves with thorns to hide and protect baby Jesus from King Herod’s men. As goes the myth, Jesus reciprocated the deed by making the holly an evergreen.
In nature, holly affords shelter to birds and small mammals during cold winter months and through harsh snowstorms. The berry-like fruits of holly are a key source of nutrition for wildlife. In early fall, their fruits are hard and inedible, but with winter’s successive frosts, they tend to soften and become more palatable to the animals that rely on them. While the needle-like appendages that grow along the leaf margins of holly leaves deter some foraging animals on lower branches, the upper branches of holly often lack these sharp spines.
Once upon a geological time, eons ago, broadleaf evergreens inhabited large swaths of the Earth, but over millennia, with repeated glaciations, those forests retreated. Ilex aquifolium is related to a common ancestor that was a relic of those primeval forests, sheltering around the warmer air and milder currents of the Mediterranean Sea. More than 400 species of Ilex belong in the family Aquifoliaceae, including trees, shrubs, and vines. Species of Ilex, the only genus in the Aquifoliaceae family, are found all over the world in many climates, but most species of holly prefer maritime climates with high humidity and relatively mild to warm temperatures. They grow well in western Europe but don’t survive in the throes of colder eastern European winters. Today European holly has established itself in the Pacific Northwest and along the Pacific coast into California, where it is considered invasive.
European holly, on its native continent, is a spindly understory tree located in oak or beech forests, but when they are cultivated or protected, as they often are, hollies commonly reach fifty or more feet in height and live 100 years or more. Near Castile and Leon, Spain, the oldest tree is reportedly well over 600 years old. The tallest holly on record is in Canon Wood in Preston Candover, England, and is nearly 83 feet tall or 25.20 meters.
Notions of holly possessing special powers have evolved through the centuries. A book of Scottish folklore describes ardent tree worship and superstitions related to all sorts of plants, from oaks to onions. The author states that holly “has been used from time immemorial as a protector against evil influence.” Branches of holly hung over doors as a safeguard against demons. The Roman Pliny the Elder promoted the idea that hollies protected dwellings from being stuck by lightning. In Norse mythology, holly belonged to Thor, the god of thunder. And then there are prohibitions. While it is acceptable to prune a branch of holly here or there, cutting down an entire tree is considered bad luck. Witches allegedly avoid them when flying over hedges, and yet holly is supposedly a choice wood for crafting magic wands. The wood is alleged to possess an innate ability for control. Indeed, true or not, coachmen and plowmen preferred whips from coppiced holly well into the nineteenth century.
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, just shy of Christmas in 1620, they stumbled upon a familiar plant. There are 16 varieties of Ilex in North America, mostly found on or near the east coast, but their “Christmas holly” reminded the early colonists of the holly back home. American holly (Ilex opaca) presents prickly leaves and a conical form, though its leaves tend to have less luster and are more rigid than the European relative; berry-like fruits are occasionally yellow.
Indigenous peoples who lived in the region that is now Pennsylvania, who were neither Christians nor sun worshippers, preserved the berries of holly for decoration and barter. They were used to denote warriors’ success in battle and appeared on clothing and hair. The sharp spines and hardwood represented ferocity and fortitude.
American holly grows in forests near the coasts of Massachusetts down to Delaware; it is sprinkled in several southern Pennsylvania counties, then its range continues southward through the Appalachians down to Florida and westward to Texas. It is scrappy in size among some coastal dunes, growing to around 15 or 20 feet tall, but can grow much higher in forests offering more conducive conditions.
The record is 99 feet in the Congaree Swamp of South Carolina. The use of American holly as a Christmas decoration was once immensely popular. Roadside markets offered holly during the holidays; consequently, some pickers decimated trees, and the species became scarce in many areas. Because holly is known to be a slow grower, laws in Delaware and Maryland currently protect the tree. Enjoy holly in your holiday decorating but be mindful of damaging these lovely and symbolic plants.
This educational blog is a series of informative articles from the Penn State Master Gardeners volunteers plus news concerning the group and their activities. For more information, click here.
