NEAT-O
WHY RED AND GREEN ARE THE OFFICIAL COLORS OF XMAS
Most people don’t even think about why red and green are the designated colors of the holiday season; indeed, the colors are hardly ever associated with anything else. The most widely accepted explanation has its roots in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the Church held “Miracle Plays,” or plays which depicted stories from the Bible. Since illiteracy in Europe was high, an oral and visual depiction was the most effective means of getting the Church’s message out to the people.
               One of the days on which Miracle Plays were performed was December 24, which was then known as Adam and Eve’s Day. On this day, the Church staged the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Naturally, the play required some props, one of them being an apple tree. It was rather difficult to find foliaged apple trees at that time of year, so someone came up with the idea of using an evergreen as a stand-in and hanging it with apples.
               This tradition first started in Germany, where the trees became known as Paradiesbäume, or Paradise Trees. Germans set up Paradiesbäume in their homes to teach their children the lessons of the Bible, and the practice continued long after the Miracle Plays were no longer performed. The idea of a Christmas Tree is therefore one distinctly German (recall that Martin Luther came up with the idea of placing candles on the tree—Quotidian vol. 1 no. 1).
               The color of the evergreen (green) and that of the apples (red) therefore became associated with Christmas.


WHEREFORE POINSETTIA?
The poinsettia is synonymous with the holidays these days, but why? The flower is actually native to Mexico, and was not brought to the United States until 1828. The first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, found the plant growing aside a road on one of his visits, and sent specimens back to his home in South Carolina.
               The poinsettia was known as Euphorbia pulcherrima until it became so popular that historian William Prescott was asked to rename it. Prescott had just written a book entitled Conquest of Mexico, in which he detailed J.R. Poinsett’s discovery of the plant, and so chose to name it after him.
               The poinsettia’s first connection to the holidays came in 17th century Mexico, when Franciscan priests near Taxco used it in a Nativity feast. As Mexican legend has it, a poor girl and her brother were on their way to Christmas Eve services, but had nothing to offer at the Nativity scene. They stopped along the way to gather some weeds from the roadside, but were ashamed for having such a poor gift to offer. Nonetheless, the little girl placed the weeds at the foot of the Nativity scene,  where they  were  transformed into  beautiful red  poinsettias. The