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 This clorful plant was discovered near the
present-day city of Taxco, Mexico and the valleys surrounding
Cuernavaca (in southern Mexico). While we know the plant as an
indoor plant, in Mexico poinsettias grow to be large woody shrubs,
often reaching 10 feet tall.
The ancient Aztec Indians of Mexico cultivated and regarded this
plant as a symbol of purity before Christianity came to the western
hemisphere. They called the plant cuetlaxochitl which means “mortal
flower that perishes and withers like all that is pure.” (While the
meaning is inspirational, aren’t we glad that we don’t have to say
this name?)
The Aztecs found many uses for the plant. The cuetlaxochitl was a
symbol of the new life earned by warriors who died in battle. They
also used the plant’s red bracts to make a reddish-purple dye used
in textiles and cosmetics. They crushed and applied the plant to
skin infections, or placed plant parts on a person’s chest to
stimulate circulation. The Aztecs made a medicine, to treat fevers,
from the plant’s milky white sap, called latex. Today the Poinsettia
is primarily an ornamental plant with little medicinal applications.
After the conquest, during the 17th century, Spanish Franciscan
priests in Mexico began using the poinsettia in the Fiesta of Santa
Pesebre, a nativity procession. They used the poinsettia because of
its appropriate holiday color and blooming time.
Poinsettias were introduced to the United States by Joel Roberts
Poinsett, the first appointed U.S. ambassador to Mexico. In 1825
while visiting Taxco he became enchanted with the red blooms and
sent some plants to his home in Greenville, South Carolina.
Poinsett, a skilled botanist, propagated the plants and began
distributing the plants to friends and various botanical gardens. [to top of second
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Within a few years, plants eventually reached Robert
Buist, a nurseryman, who is believed to be the first person to sell
the plant in the United States. In 1833, the plant was given the
common name poinsettia, the name-sake of Joel Poinsett.
The poinsettia industry was pioneered and developed
by the Ecke family. In the 1920’s, Albert and Paul Ecke began field
growing poinsettias in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area. Today
the Paul Ecke Ranch located in Encinitas, California is the major
producer of poinsettia mother plants used for cuttings by commercial
growers.
Today, no holiday scene would be complete without a poinsettia. The
modern poinsettia only slightly resembles the tall, leggy, red plant
that grew wild throughout Central America.
The poinsettia we see today comes from many years of breeding and
engineering. During the mid-1950’s plant breeding research began and
has led to many the current improved varieties and cultivars.
Today’s poinsettia is a free-branching hybrid plant with larger,
longer lasting bracts. Hybridizing has resulted in colors including:
cream, yellow, peach, pink, salmon, and marbled. Red poinsettias
still account for more than 70 percent of sales.
Congress has given the poinsettia recognition by declaring December
12 as national poinsettia day. This day honors Joel Poinsett who
died on December 12, 1851. [Jennifer
Fishburn, Horticulture Educator, University of Illinois Extension]
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