Mistletoe istletoe is a parasitic plant that is often used as a symbol M of renewal because it stays green all winter. • There are 1,300 mistletoe species world wide. The continental US and Canada are home to 30 species while Hawaii is home to another six.
Did You Know? Poinsettia
• As they mature, mistletoes grow into thick often rounded masses of branches until they look like baskets, sometimes called “witches brooms” measuring 5 feet wide and weighing 50 pounds. • A variety of birds including owls and Cooper’s hawks are known to nest in mistletoe “witches brooms.”
o flower says Christmas more like a N poinsettia. Joel Roberts Poinsett, introduced the plant to the United States from Mexico. Poinsett, was a botanist, physician and first United States Ambassador to Mexico. • The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people thing of as flowers are actually colored bracts. The flower part is in the middle of the brachts. • There are more than 100 varieties of poinsettias today. They come in colors like red, white, pink, burgundy, marbled and speckled. • In Mexico, the Poinsettia is a perennial shrub that will grow 10-15 feel tall.
Christmas Tree T he first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia, in 1510. • Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882. Christmas tree lights were first mass-produced in 1890. • The tradition of an official Chicago Christmas tree was initiated in 1913 when one was first lit by Mayor Carter H. Harrison in Grant Park. • Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, was the first President to place a Christmas tree in the White House. • President Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House Lawn in 1923. n
... and now you know!
18 | Michiana House and Home | December 2021 |
Photos: Shutterstock.com
Information provided by the University of Illinois Extension and the National Wildlife Federation.
