Ecology

Conifers, or are they Evergreens?

Lizzy Ryan
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve

(12/2020) December is the month that everyone is thinking about Christmas. A great tradition is to pick out a Christmas tree (or grab your artificial, plastic one out of storage). Then of course there’s the age-old debate of live versus fake trees for Christmas. When I was dating my now fiancé, he really wanted a fake tree (he’s a bit of a clean freak and didn’t want needles everywhere). I disagreed to the strongest level. My family always had a live tree and, in my mind, that was what we were doing.

This "argument" originally started in the summer. We decided to write up this fake contract on a piece of scrap paper that we put on the fridge that said that he agreed to have a real Christmas tree under certain parameters (it needed to be taken down by January 15th and be a tree that we could plant after Christmas).

So, this brings me to the discussion of how did people adopt the tradition of cutting down a tree for Christmas?

It is said that Germans first started the Christmas tree tradition in the 16th century. They would cut down an evergreen to bring inside and decorate with candles. German settlers brought this tradition to America (Pennsylvania specifically) sometime during the 19th century. People thought it was quite odd at first. This tradition was thought of as a pagan symbol.

In 1846, Queen Victoria of England was sketched as gathered around a Christmas tree with her family. It was then that the tradition of Christmas trees caught on in America. Americans began decorating Christmas trees with handmade ornaments, popcorn, berries, and nuts. With the invention of electricity came the addition of Christmas lights on the tree. In 1931, the first Christmas tree was placed in the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The first tree was a small tree with no decorations. Two years later, they placed another tree. This time, with lights, as so the tradition continues today.

And so our dilemma continues….After determining that we want a live Christmas, next comes the selection of a Christmas tree. What is a Christmas tree - a conifer or an evergreen?

These two terms are often used synonymously.

A conifer is simply a tree or shrub that produces cones. An evergreen is a tree or shrub that keeps its leaves (needles) all year long. Most conifers are evergreen, but not all, and not all evergreens are conifers. Crazy, right?

Evergreens/conifers are the epidemy of winter. These are the trees that we think about when we think of snow in a forest resting peacefully on their branches. When we think of conifers, we often think of the cones they bare, which make great additions to many of our holiday decorations. Evergreens are thought of for the branches they provide for our perfect Christmas tree!

Evergreens are plants that hold their leaves or needles through the winter. We have a few species of native evergreens in our forests- both ground cover, shrubs and trees. These include the Christmas Fern, mountain laurel, inkberry holly, American holly, red cedar, white pine, and the eastern hemlock, all of which we can find in leaf through the winter months.

The Christmas fern grows all over the forest of Strawberry Hill. Because this ground cover remains green all year, some people like to use it in their Christmas decorations- hence the name Christmas fern. It has dark green, leathery looking fronds and grows in shady areas. The leaflets of this fern also have a "foot-like" appearance. Many think these leaflets look like stockings. Others think it looks like Santa’s sleigh when it’s turned on its side.

Mountain laurels are a native, evergreen shrub (and are also Pennsylvania’s state flower!). Mountain laurels keep their foliage all year long. They produce beautiful flowers that are white in color with stripes of pink. They bloom in May-June. It can grow between 7-15 feet tall and wide. They have dark green leaves that are similar to a rhododendron. They are typically found in shady, rocky areas in the forest.

Inkberry hollies are another species of native evergreen found from Nova Scotia all the way down to Texas. It’s a large shrub growing 6-8 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide. Many use this shrub for natural screening, foundation plantings, and mass plantings. It’s easy to maintain, the leaves are small and rounded, and can be substituted for boxwood. They also make great wreaths!

Red cedars are a prickly evergreen with scale-like foliage. They are salt tolerant so they are commonly found near roadways and sidewalks. Growing up, these grew everywhere in my parent’s woods. My mom and I would go out in the woods every Christmas and cut down a small cedar. We would then decorate it inside as a mini Christmas tree (along with our large, Canaan fir.)

Then there’s the infamous white pine. The classic and beautiful evergreen that is found all over our forests here and all over eastern North America. The needles of this tree are found in fascicles (bundles) of 5, a key identification feature. Its cones are slender and between 3-6 inches long. Studies show that between the ages of 15-45 years old, this tree can grow at a rate of 3 feet per year. This tree is now commonly used in plantations for lumber. Its needles can also be used in teas. This is also a popular Christmas tree. On Christmas tree farms, these plants handle shearing, a key to growing a Christmas tree.

Pennsylvania’s state tree is the Eastern Hemlock. It produces tiny cones that almost look like Christmas ornaments. A healthy tree can reach heights of 100 feet tall. This tree is being threatened by the invasive hemlock wooly adelgid- a bug that sucks sap from tree. The wooly adelgid just looks like a fuzzy white dot at the bottom of the needles. The oldest eastern hemlock was found in Pennsylvania and was around 550 years old! This is not a great choice for a Christmas tree as it drops it’s needles very quickly when brought inside. If using this tree, consider using it as a live tree (with a root ball) and keep it outside.

One tree that I like to mention is the American Larch. It is not a native to Pennsylvania but is an interesting species. The American Larch is is a conifer, but not an evergreen. It’s deciduous. In the fall, its needles turn a beautiful yellow color. Then, they all drop! Often people think the tree is dying, but not the case. In the winter, the tree does looks dead, with no foliage, but still holds on to its cones. Because these trees go completely dormant during the winter, they can be found as far north as the Arctic Circle!

Firs and spruce are the trees commonly grown as Christmas trees. Although most are not native to Pennsylvania or Maryland, they still grow well here and are typically our go-to trees for the holiday season. Blue spruce, Douglas fir, Canaan fir and Frasier fir are all commonly grown.

Evergreens offer a sign of hope. No matter how hard the times are, they still survive and stay green in the hardest of times. I encourage you in this difficult time we are in, to get outside. Go on a hike and look for some of these kinds of native evergreens.

And the tree we chose this Christmas season? A Frasier fir all the way! After all, tradition is tradition!

Strawberry Hill is open everyday dawn to dusk. Over the past nine months, Strawberry Hill has been a haven, an escape, a gathering place. More than 3,000 visitors have found reprieve and sought solace in nature. If you have not had the chance, join us on a private, guided hike with a naturalist. Learn more about Strawberry Hill online at Strawberryhill.org or by calling 717-642-5840.