Introduction
Whether you walk into a Catholic church out of the balmy U.S. Southwest or a blustering Midwest winter, the “liturgical environment” you’ll step into is remarkably similar. Irrespective of the local landscape, the altar likely dons only a select few plants. Which plants depends not on where the church is located, but when you visit it. If it’s Christmastime, the poinsettia reigns unrivaled. At Easter, the Easter lily is second to none. And in “ordinary time” (Sundays between the major seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter), greenery and a few non-specific flowers adorn holy surfaces. This recurring cycle of standardized plants align Catholic worship with the seasonal rhythms of a shared, imagined environment.
Though no plant is uniquely Catholic, the strong and persistent tradition of certain plants in the U.S. Catholic Church, particularly the poinsettia and Easter lily, provokes an interesting question: Which—or whose—“outside” is curated within church walls?