Here’s a tranquil evening holiday scene, but what and where is it? Send to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our Dec. 14 photo, “Interesting Lowcountry plant,” shows yaupon holly, described in this week’s Focus by Toni Reale. Several readers — but none from Charleston County — correctly identified the plant, including George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Don Clark, both of Hartsville; and Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va. Happy holidays all!
Peel shared that while most sources agree that yaupon is the continent’s only native source of caffeine, “the crowd-sourced Wikipedia article here, the yaupon holly “is only one of two known plants endemic to North America that produce caffeine. The other is Ilex Cassine, commonly known as dahoon holly.”
He also shared a little bit on why holly is often used to decorate during the holidays: “In Christianity, holly was adopted as a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns; the crimson berries a symbol of his blood; and the evergreen leaves a metaphor for life after death. The tradition of ‘decking the halls with boughs of holly’ at Christmas continues today.”
- Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
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