Palm Sunday before modern shipping

[Digitonomy]

I got to wondering about how people celebrated Palm Sunday when they had no access to palms. The old Catholic Encyclopedia says this:

In places where palms cannot be found, branches of olive, box elder, spruce or other trees are used and the “Cæremoniale episcoporum”, II, xxi, 2 suggests that in such cases at least little flowers or crosses made of palm be attached to the olive boughs. In Rome olive branches are distributed to the people, while the clergy carry palms frequently dried and twisted into various shapes. In parts of Bavaria large swamp willows, with their catkins, and ornamented with flowers and ribbons, were used.

Has anyone here ever been to a Palm Sunday mass where palms were not used?

Also interesting from that article

we find the names Pascha floridum, in French Pâques fleuries, in Spanish Pascua florida, and it was from this day of 1512 that our State of Florida received its name

 

[WhiteDove]

Good question! I have also wondered about the use of olive oil for blessings in countries where no olive trees grow, the use of wheat for communion wafers where no wheat grows, and the use of wine where no grapes grow.

 

[cleopa]

In the Romanian Catholic Church, we use pussy-willow branches.

~cleopa

 

[mercygate]

Pussy willows were used in the Church of England.

As for the olive oil, that keeps and ships well. No reason to substitute for that.