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← 2014 AdventBotany – day 14 – String
2014 Advent Botany – Day 16 – Chocolate (Theobroma cacao) →

2014 Advent Botany – Day 15 – the Christmas tree

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Alastair Culham
2014 Christmas Tree at UoR

2014 Christmas Tree at UoR

There is much debate and disagreement about the origin of Christmas trees and they have variously been linked to oak branches used in mystery plays and even the Yule log, however the earliest records of the Christmas tree in the modern sense seem to relate to use of conifers in German speaking regions although this could have been in Riga in 1510 (although this could have been a paradise tree) or the Rhineland in the mid 1500s where a conifer was used.  Records are patchy.  Use of the tree in the UK and North America followed publicity on its use by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

For the first time on Whiteknights campus the University of Reading has an illuminated Christmas tree outside.  The tree is a young Cedrus libani now about 10m tall and showing the distinctive triangular shape of most young conifers.

Under the name Christmas tree many different conifer species are sold including:

Picea abies Norway spruce
Abies alba Silver fir
Abies balsamea Balsam fir
Abies concolor White fir
Abies fraseri Fraser Fir
Abies grandis Grand fir
Abies guatemalensis Guatemalan fir
Abies magnifica Red fir
Abies nordmanniana Nordmann fir
Abies procera Noble fir
Araucaria heterophylla Norfolk Island pine
Picea omorika Serbian spruce
Pinus cembra Swiss pine
Pinus edulis Pinyon pine
Pinus jeffreyi Jeffrey pine
Pinus pinea Stone pine
Pinus pinea Stone pine
Pinus sylvestris Scots pine
Pseudotsuga menziesii Douglas-fir
Thuja occidentalis White Cedar
Trafalgar square Christmas tree

Trafalgar square Christmas tree

Bar far the commonest of these is the UK has been the Norway spruce, due to its good shape and low price however other species are more popular as domestic Christmas trees now due to the tendency of the Norway spruce to drop its needles steadily throughout the Christmas season.  The Norway spruce is the tree that had graced Trafalgar square each year since 1947,  in commemoration of the exile of King Haakon VII who escaped to Britain during Nazi occupation from 1940. A Norwegian exile government was set up in London resulting in many Norwegians, seeing London as home of a spirit of freedom during those difficult war years.

In contrast with the botanical consistency in Trafalgar Square, the Vatican Christmas trees have been a mix of Fir and Spruce over the years.

Around Europe there are many endangered Fir species but one I have seen regularly is the endangered Abies pinsapo, the Spanish fir, occurring in the Sierra de Grazalema and in the Rif mountains of Morocco.  This stately tree survives on the wet northern mountain slopes where fires are rare.

Day 15 - Christmas tree, Young tree of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) in the Sierra de Gracelema
Day 15 – Christmas tree, Young tree of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) in the Sierra de Gracelema
A population of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) on the north facing slopes of Sierra de Gracelema
A population of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) on the north facing slopes of Sierra de Gracelema
Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) in the Sierra de Gracelema with UoR Biology students and Alejandra Perotti
Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) in the Sierra de Gracelema with UoR Biology students and Alejandra Perotti

But should we be cutting down live trees to decorate our houses each year?  Yes, says Dominique Mosbergen of the Huffington Post, they are more environmentally friendly than artificial ones.

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About Alastair Culham

A professional botanist and biologist with an interest in promoting biological knowledge and awareness to all.
View all posts by Alastair Culham →
This entry was posted in Advent, Herbarium RNG, Public Engagement with Science and tagged #AdventBotany, Abies, Araucaria, Christmas tree, Pice, Pinus, Pseudotsuga. Bookmark the permalink.
← 2014 AdventBotany – day 14 – String
2014 Advent Botany – Day 16 – Chocolate (Theobroma cacao) →
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Last reply was December 19, 2018
  1. #Advent Botany – the full story! | Dr M Goes Wild
    View December 15, 2014

    […] #AdventBotany Day 15 – The Christmas tree! But how did Christmas trees get to England? Dr M’s research suggests not via Prince Albert as often stated, but from good Queen Charlotte, German wife of George 3 who reputedly displayed the first English tree at Windsor 1800. For the first time on Whiteknights campus the University of Reading has an illuminated Christmas tree outside, it is a young Cedrus libani now about 10m tall and showing the distinctive triangular shape of most young conifers. Almost twenty different species of conifer are regularly used as Christmas trees and you can read all about it at Culham Research Group here. […]

    Reply
  2. Advent Botany 2015, Day1: Balsam Fir – a popular Christmas tree in Canada | Culham Research Group
    View December 7, 2015

    […] Editor’s note: for a general list of Christmas tree species see Advent Botany 2014 – Day 15 […]

    Reply
  3. Advent Botany 2015 – Day 6: White Cedar | Culham Research Group
    View December 7, 2015

    […] note: for other christmas trees see: Advent Botany 2014 – Day 15 and Advent Botany 2015 Day […]

    Reply
  4. The Son of #AdventBotany 2015! | Dr M Goes Wild
    View December 24, 2015

    […] you think about Christmas plants you probably think about hollyand ivy, possibly Christmas trees and poinsettias, and maybe even Brussels sprouts and parsnips. But I bet you don’t think about […]

    Reply
  5. #AdventBotany Day 10: Have yourself a microscopically Merry Christmas « Herbology Manchester
    View December 10, 2017

    […] to escape another round of charades and escape to some quiet contemplation! Perhaps of the Christmas tree in extraordinary detail. Just imagine the pleasure getting lost for hours in the patterns created […]

    Reply
  6. #AdventBotany Day 10: Have yourself a microscopically Merry Christmas | Culham Research Group
    View December 10, 2017

    […] to avoid another round of charades and escape to some quiet contemplation! Perhaps of the Christmas tree in extraordinary detail. Just imagine the pleasure getting lost for hours in the patterns created […]

    Reply
  7. #AdventBotany 2018, Day 18: Advent VLOG | Culham Research Group
    View December 19, 2018

    […] Dawn mentions Pine cones in her Vlog and we have an advent blog coming later that features the various types of pine cones.  For tree species used as Christmas trees see The Christmas Tree. […]

    Reply
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