December birth flowers: narcissus and holly
December’s birth flowers are the narcissus, usually the paperwhite, and the holly; some lists give the poinsettia. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the narcissus egotism or self-love, and the holly foresight.
Meaning
The Old Farmer’s Almanac gives the narcissus, such as the paperwhite, first and holly second. West Virginia University Extension gives holly alone, and University of Illinois Extension gives “narcissus, poinsettia, holly, or paperwhite”. Penn State Extension’s Master Gardeners call it almost a three-way tie between paperwhite, poinsettia and holly, and choose holly as the one most likely to be growing outdoors in a Pennsylvania December. The paperwhite is a narcissus, like the daffodils of March, with fragrant white flowers (NC State Extension). English holly, Ilex aquifolium, is an evergreen of Europe, North Africa and western Asia whose Latin name means needle leaf (NC State Extension). The poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is native to Mexico and Guatemala and was brought to the United States in the early 1800s by Joel R. Poinsett, botanist and ambassador to Mexico; its red “flowers” are bracts, leaves that surround small yellow true flowers (NC State Extension). Penn State Extension’s Master Gardeners say the meanings rest “on folklore and tradition passed on through generations” and vary with the source and the time.
Origin and history
Holly is the older December flower. In the saints’-day Calendar of Flowers that Henrietta Dumont printed in 1851, holly falls on 25 December, the Nativity. The Garland of the Year, a gift book from Marcus Ward with a flower for each month, describes December’s holly “with its fruit of coral” beside the mistletoe in the Christmas decorations of homes and churches. The narcissus of the old books is a spring flower: Dumont’s calendar puts the Roman narcissus on 9 February and the poet’s narcissus on 3 May. The December paperwhite is forced: the Farmers’ Almanac describes paperwhite bulbs grown indoors in a dish of stones and water for holiday bloom.
Egotism and self-love: the narcissus
Kate Greenaway (1884) gives the narcissus egotism; Sarah Josepha Hale, egotism and self-love; Frederic Shoberl (1840), Dumont and Katharine Beals (1917), self-love. All go back to the Greek story that Shoberl and Beals retell: the youth Narcissus, who slighted the nymph Echo, fell in love with his own reflection, pined away and was changed into the flower. Modern lists read it more kindly: the Farmers’ Almanac says the paperwhite stands for renewal and good wishes for the year ahead, and University of Illinois Extension gives the narcissus “egotism, formality”.
Foresight or domestic happiness: holly
Greenaway, Shoberl and Dumont give holly foresight; Shoberl sees it in the sharp prickles with which Nature armed its leaves against the animals that eat them. Hale gives domestic happiness, with the verse “Gentle at home, amid my friends, I’d be, Like the high leaves upon the Holly tree.” University of Illinois Extension gives holly defense and domestic happiness, and West Virginia University Extension good luck.
The poinsettia
The poinsettia has no entry in the dictionaries of Greenaway, Shoberl, Dumont or Hale. West Virginia University Extension’s modern table gives it “be of good cheer”.
Where you’ll see it today
whatdoesthissymbolmean.comDecember birthstones: turquoise, tanzanite and zirconThe same month's birthstoneSee also
March birth flowers: daffodil and jonquil, January birth flowers: carnation and snowdrop, February birth flowers: violet and primrose, March birth flowers: daffodil and jonquil, April birth flowers: daisy and sweet pea, May birth flowers: lily of the valley and hawthorn.
Sources
- Monthly Birth Flowers, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- Birth Flowers by Month: Discover Your Monthly Flower & Meaning, Catherine Boeckmann, updated 17 September 2026, The Old Farmer’s Almanac
- Birth Flower Chart: All 12 Birth Flowers by Month, Shivani Vyas, updated 19 August 2026, Farmers’ Almanac
- Floriography: The meaning of flowers, Bruce J. Black and Rhonda Ferree, updated November 2022, University of Illinois Extension
- WL 173 Floriography: The Language of Flowers, Natasha Harris and Jesica Streets, 2022, West Virginia University Extension
- December Birth Flower: Holly, Joan Banyas, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- Language of Flowers, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, 1884, George Routledge and Sons (Project Gutenberg edition)
- The Language of Flowers: The Floral Offering, by Henrietta Dumont, 1851, H. C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia (Project Gutenberg edition)
- The Language of Flowers, with Illustrative Poetry, by Frederic Shoberl, seventh edition, 1840, Saunders & Otley, London (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy)
- Flora’s Interpreter, and Fortuna Flora, by Sarah Josepha Hale, 1856 edition, Sanborn, Carter and Bazin, Boston (Internet Archive)
- Flower Lore and Legend, by Katharine M. Beals, 1917, Henry Holt and Company, New York (Internet Archive)
- The Garland of the Year; or, The Months: Their Poetry and Flowers, 1873 (catalogue date), Marcus Ward & Co., London and Belfast (Internet Archive)
- Narcissus tazetta (Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), NC State Extension
- Ilex aquifolium (Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), NC State Extension
- Euphorbia pulcherrima (Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), NC State Extension
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Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research