A white ermine in a green scarf carries a pot of white paperwhite narcissus with a sprig of holly and berries

December Birth Flowers

  • Narcissus (Paperwhite)
  • Holly
  • PoinsettiaAlso listed

December's birth flowers are the paperwhite narcissus and the holly, with the poinsettia as a florists' alternate tied to the holiday season.

Paperwhite and holly are December's consensus pair, listed by both almanacs and by the Society of American Florists, which names Narcissus and Paperwhite as separate entries. The florists' chart also adds the poinsettia. Unlike most birth flowers, the poinsettia has no entry in either the florists' meanings guide or Greenaway's 1884 book. Its place in December comes from the Society of American Florists' list and from its role as a holiday-season plant in the United States.

The paperwhite's modern meanings look toward the new year: hope, good wishes and faithfulness, or renewal and good wishes for the year ahead, both from Farmers' Almanac. The Old Farmer's Almanac adds pure or unconditional love. Holly stands for domestic happiness in the florists' guide and in Farmers' Almanac, while Greenaway's 1884 book read it as foresight. The Old Farmer's Almanac also connects holly to protection from evil.

The flowers

Narcissus (Paperwhite)Narcissus papyraceus 等

Modern American:
Hope, good wishes, faithfulness
Modern American:
Renewal and good wishes for the year ahead
Modern American:
Pure or unconditional love

Paperwhite is a white Narcissus, usually Narcissus papyraceus. Farmers' Almanac gives it hope, good wishes and faithfulness, and the Old Farmer's Almanac pure or unconditional love. That almanac also notes that in Victorian times, a gift of narcissus could mean you were the only one. Greenaway's general Narcissus entry, egotism, is the one less flattering reading, and it covers the genus as a whole.

HollyIlex

Modern American:
Domestic happiness
Victorian:
Foresight

Holly is Ilex aquifolium, the evergreen with red berries used in Christmas greenery. The Society of American Florists and Farmers' Almanac both read it as domestic happiness, Greenaway's 1884 book as foresight. A name trap affects Japanese readers: the plant called hiiragi in Japan is Osmanthus heterophyllus, used at Setsubun, while Christmas holly is a separate plant known there as Western hiiragi.

PoinsettiaEuphorbia pulcherrimaAlso listed

Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is December's alternate on the Society of American Florists' list. Neither the florists' meanings guide nor Greenaway's 1884 book gives it an entry, so it has no traditional English meaning. Its December place rests on that list and on the holiday season. Japanese florists do attach meanings to it, reading the red poinsettia as my heart is burning.

FAQ

What does the poinsettia mean?

No traditional English meaning appears in the sources behind birth flower lists. The Society of American Florists includes it for December, and its link to the month comes from the holiday season. Japanese flower language reads the red form as my heart is burning.

Is there a birth flower for each day of the year?

Day-by-day calendars exist. The one used for single dates on this site comes from William Hone's The Every-Day Book, published in England in 1825. Japanese florists publish 366-day lists too, but their tables differ and none is official.

Birth flowers and flower meanings are cultural traditions. Month lists follow The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Farmers’ Almanac and the Society of American Florists; the daily calendar is from William Hone’s The Every-Day Book (1825).