How did poinsettia get its name?

This tropical plant was discovered in Mexico by a botanist names Juan Balme in the 17th century. Prior to this, the Aztecs would use the sap from the plant to help with fevers and the red pigment in the bracts as a source of dye.

The poinsettia received its common name from the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico (1825-29), Joel Poinsett. He attended medical school but apparently had a true love of botany.

On a trip in 1828 Poinsett was taken by the brilliant red colors on this shrub and sent plants back to his South Carolina house where he had hothouses. He began to propagate the plant to send to friends and botanical gardens.

In 1829 the plant was introduced into commercial trade and has since become the standard plant for holiday decorating.

The red color that makes this plant so spectacular are the bracts and not the bloom. Bracts are modified leaves.

The flower on the poinsettia is the little tiny cluster in the middle of the bracts. The buds start out green and then open to a yellowish reddish color.

The flowers are really insignificant and nondescript, however, just this year I took a really close look at them for the time and found something cool: As the flowers open, they give the appearance of a little tiny bright yellow bird’s beak. In addition, the bird is decked out in a lavish red hat with yellowish-red spikey things.

When you purchase a poinsettia, you don’t want to see the bird’s beak. You want to purchase a poinsettia that is in tight flower bud and hasn’t opened. This plant will last the longest.

At this point in time, however, you might be seeing some of the blooms opening in the garden store since we are closer to the holidays. You don’t want to buy one in which all of the buds have fallen off. If there are just little green stubs where the buds used to be, the plant is past its prime.

Poinsettia branches are pretty fragile, so remove the protective covering as soon as you get it home and put it in a place where you won’t bump into it.

They don’t like it too hot or too cold. Normal home temperatures are perfect, away from a heat or draft source.

Keep the soil moist; if it dries out, the bracts will drop. I water poinsettias by placing them in a saucer of water for an hour or so, letting the plant absorb the water.