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Plants are vital for life – without photosynthesis taking place, we would all be very hungry. And we would miss out on all those sprouts with our Christmas dinner!
However, some plants don’t just survive off food they make themselves. Mistletoe is a hemiparasite. Alongside the food it gets from photosynthesising, it steals minerals and nutrients from its host. This explains why mistletoe can survive high in trees, not needing to reach the ground. It cannot actually survive unless feeding off another plant. Consider that while you are kissing underneath it!
Mistletoe is not the only greenery associated with Christmas. In fact, mistletoe, holly and ivy were used in pre-Christian times, celebrating the Winter Solstice Festival. People believed the plants would ward off evil spirits. Humans may have observed the winter solstice as far back as 10,200 B.C. (the last part of the Stone Age). It was once thought that holly was a male plant, and ivy a female plant. An old tradition from the Midlands suggests that the plant brought into the house first would decide whether the man or woman of the house would be in charge that year!
People used fir trees in festivities, long before Christmas was celebrated. The Romans used to celebrate Saturnalia, a holiday honouring Saturn, the god of agriculture. This festival lasted a week leading up the winter solstice. Temples decorated with conifers, with presents underneath, and lots of food and drink would be common during Saturnalia!
There is even a tradition of hanging Christmas trees upside down, dating back to the Middle Ages in Europe. Apparently, Saint Boniface, a Benedictine monk used upside down trees to help teach theology. The triangle shape of the upside down tree helps explain the trinity in the Christian Faith! Many working class households adopted this, probably to save space in small houses as they could hang the tree from the rafters. Added bonus- your pets can’t eat the baubles!!
GCSE scientists – you need to be able to explain what photosynthesis is. To help try out Part 1 of our new guide ” How to work with Photosynthesis”. It describes what photosynthesis is, includes the word and symbol equation and explains what the limiting factors of photosynthesis are. The guide includes information about how the plant uses the glucose made. Most importantly, there are example questions to try, alongside answers for you to check your understanding.
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