Posted on by Thomas

Episode 92: The Fir

While there are many holidays that coincide with the Winter season, there are few that involve traditions I love so much as the Christmas Tree. And while there are many options for what kind of evergreen conifer to bring into your home and decorate with lights and baubles, the champion of them all is the Fir. What is it about this tree that makes it so well-loved at this time of year? I’ll explore this species’ relationship with the holiday, dive into why Russia ties a holiday tree to New Years instead, and provide some truly cursed Fir facts that’ll make you forget that this is a Christmas special. I warned you.

Tons of bonus content is available on my Patreon! (patreon.com/MyFavoriteTrees)
Music is by Academy Garden (academygarden.bandcamp.com)
Cover Art is by @boomerangbrit on Instagram
Script Editing and Social Media is by Laurie Hilburn (lhilburn.journoportfolio.com)
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Sources:

https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6268138/

https://ncchristmastrees.com/fraser-fir-trees/

https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2021/12/christmas-trees-smell-good/

https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_procera.php

https://andrewcfox.wixsite.com/andrewcfox/post/totw-fir

https://andrewcfox.wixsite.com/andrewcfox/post/tree-of-the-week-the-trojan-horse

https://www.rbth.com/history/335727-charlotte-prussia-christmas-russia

https://www.new-east-archive.org/articles/show/9424/yolka-russia-new-year-tree-pagan-soviet-christmas

https://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/460186573/dont-call-it-a-christmas-tree-how-russias-yolka-survived-the-revolution

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/press-room/press-backgrounders/white-house-christmas-trees

https://www.nps.gov/whho/learn/historyculture/national-christmas-tree-history.htm

https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/blisters

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adsu.202200234