You know it’s Christmas time when Poinsettias begin to appear everywhere you look, along with Christmas trees.
Poinsettias, Euphorbia pulcherrima, are traditional December flowering plants and have become the symbol of Christmas, evoking the holiday spirit.
The Poinsettia, which originated in Mexico, is also called Flower of the Holy Night and has a rich history dating back to the 14th century.
In Mexico, the Poinsettia was grown by the Aztecs as a shrub and was used by them as a red dye to dye fabrics and to control fever. This was many centuries before it was introduced to the United States by Joel Poinsett, an American Ambassador to Mexico and a remarkable amateur botanist. It was after it was exported to the US by Poinsett, that the plant was named for him. December 12, the day Poinsett died in 1851 is National Poinsettia Day.
The Poinsettia is now grown all over the world in large quantities
