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The poinsettia, also known as the Mexican flame leaf or Christmas star (Euphorbia pulcherrima), is a plant known for its striking red displays at Christmas time. It is often used as a floral Christmas decoration because of its festive colours.
The "flowers" are actually large bunches of coloured leaves (modified bractIn botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, from the axil of which a flower or flower stalk arises; or a bract may be any leaf associated with an inflorescence. Usually bracts are green and resemble the other leaves. However, some bracts are bris); the flowers themselves are in the center of each leaf bunch, but rather small and inconspicuous. CultivarA cultivar is a cultivated variety of a plant species. Modern cultivars are often, but not necessarily, hybrids between species; they may equally well represent particularly desirable selections from populations of a single species. Cultivars generally ars have been produced with orange, pale green, cream and marbled leaves.
Poinsettias are native to southern MexicoThis article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation The United Mexican States or Mexico ( Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico regarding the use of the variant spelling Mejico see section The name below) is a co and Central AmericaCentral America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. Some geographers classify Central America as a large isthmus, and in this geographic sense it sometimes in, where they may reach heights of sixteen feet. They are named after Joel Roberts PoinsettJoel Roberts Poinsett ( March 2, 1779 December 12, 1851) was a physician, botanist and American statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico, a U. Secretary of War under Martin Van who was the first United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in ambassador to Mexico.
In the United States and perhaps elsewhere, there is a common misconception that poinsettias are toxic. This has been shown to be untrue. Apparently, this misconception can be traced to a 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus urban legend of a two-year-old child dying after consuming a poinsettia leaf.
1 Poinsettias in legend
A Mexican legend explains how poinsettias came to be associated with Christmas. Apparently, a child who could not afford a gift to offer to Christ on Christmas Eve picked some weeds from the side of a road. The child was told that a humble gift, if given in love, would be acceptable in God's eyes. When brought into the church, the weeds bloomed into red and green flowers and the congregation felt they had witnessed a Christmas miracle.
