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Show ANCIENT HOLLY STILL SPREADS HOLIDAY CHEER j In homes throught America this Christmas the holly j plant will carry on its age-old duty of spreading Yuletide j spirit, a custom that dates back to the pagan tribes of continental con-tinental Europe. Originally the holly grew wild in the United States over a range from Massachusetts to Missouri and south to Florida and Texas. But too nuch harvesting in northeastern United States has destroyed much of the natural growth. Today most holly is grown from Norfolk, Virginia, to Florida within with-in 50 or 60 miles of the Atlantic coast, and westward in the Gulf region to Louisiana. Current popularity of the holly is a continuation of the custom of the Druid feasts which honored the mistletoe and holly in pagan rites. In Europe the tribes under Roman rule sent holly branches to each other as evidence of good will. Homes and churches were decorated wjth holly laden with crimson berries when the pagans celebrated the feast of Saturnalia, the "turning on of the sun". Yuletide, the feast made to the Celtic sun god, Yaioul, finally became the celebration of Christmas, and the holly tree, known as the holy tree, became the sacred tree for decorations at our Christmas festivals. Holly does not bear berries until it is five years old. Before Be-fore that time the male and female trees cannot be told a-part. a-part. There are more than 300 species of the plant, all of them native to the temperate and tropical regions of both hemispheres. Only the American and, English holly trees have rich green leaves. These are outlined with sharp spines or teeth, and the fruiting branches have round crimson berries. |