palm sunday

i go to mass and i get my palms for this year, flat and fresh and clean smelling. when i was a kid, i always thought palm-sunday-palms came from jerusalem since they symbolize jesus' procession into that city. at an older age, i figured jerusalem would be out of palms pretty quickly if they supplied fronds to all the catholic churches in the world so i decided they just came from the middle east somewhere. in my adult life, i just didn't question where they came from. but now, i know! on a tulip-buying trip to my local florist thursday, i found her standing at a counter covered in palm leaves, cleaning them with a white washcloth. palms come from the florist?? i asked in disbelief.  no, she said, palms come from mexico. and of course, it makes perfect sense.