Here ’s how poinsettia went from their ancient Aztec beginnings to one of the mankind ’s most beloved holiday plants .
Adam Albright
You ca n’t drop a light - up plastic Santa Claus in December without hitting pots ofpoinsettiassitting by hearths , sate indoor planters , and starring inholiday tablescapes . Poinsettias are indisputably an iconic flora of Christmas , but where did they make out from ? And why are they so dear in the U.S. and around the world ?
Credit:Adam Albright
The hydrofoil - wrapped potted industrial plant you seize at a big box memory during the holidays in reality connect you to century of tradition , lose city , long bushed people , alternating worldviews , and horticultural ingeniousness . The tale of how Christmas star went from their line of descent as a works esteem by the ancient Aztecs to a world-wide Christmas custom is steeped in caption and intrigue .
Each year more than 70 million poinsettias are sold nationwide , contributing $ 250 million to the nation ’s saving .
Poinsettia Popularity
Euphorbia pulcherrima are so democratic they account for almost 20 % of the potted inflorescence plants sell in the United States , according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Each year more than 70 million poinsettias are sold nationwide , says the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences , contributing $ 250 million to the land ’s economy . That ’s an amazing amount considering the market for poinsettias is only about six workweek long .
What explains poinsettias ’ appeal ? Their flower are seasonally appropriate red , and the rest of the parting are unripened , so they add clamant Yule color to a quad . They ’re also atropical plantthat brings a welcome lush , colorful look to winter interiors when the outdoors have turned into monotonic hoary , white , and browned .
Poinsettias have been hybridized to extend a ambit of bloom colors , so if blood-red heyday seem too predictable , you may also find these works in various shades of pinkish , salmon , white , yellow , and even orange .
Credit: Jason Donnelly
Where Poinsettias Originated
Poinsettias may seem like the ultimate flashy twentieth 100 prime but their history begin centuries ago with indigenous people . Poinsettias are aboriginal to Guatemala and area of Southwestern Mexico , where they are tropic shrubs . In their lifelike habitats , wild poinsettias grow to be 10- to 15 - understructure tree . The tree diagram blooms in December , when cooler , farsighted night cause the bracts ( unripe leaves ) to ferment ruby-red . These colorful bracts surround the poinsettia ’s true salad days , small yellowness flowersthat appear to be the red blooming ’s inwardness .
The plant was cultivated by the Aztecs C before the European settlement of the Americas . The Aztecs call the industrial plant “ cuetlaxochitl ” ( kwet - Pelican State - sho - she ) and used it to make dyes and medicines . Cuetlaxochitl blooms were also used as oblation in religious ceremonies . It ’s said that Montezuma , the last emperor of the Mexica , had caravans of cuetlaxochitl bring into his palaces in Tenochtitlan to decorate each wintertime .
How Poinsettias Became a Christmas Flower
When conquistador Hernan Cortes showed up in the former 16th Century , the story of these violent flowers gets more complex . Spanish Catholic missioner who arrived to exchange the indigenous people saw raving mad cuetlaxochitl blooming around the time of their European vacation , Christmas . Friars commence using theblooms to ornament Nativity picture in southwest Mexican cities .
By the seventeenth Century , Spanish missionaries and autochthonic converts of Mexico had begun call the cuetlaxochitlla flor de Nochebuena , which mean “ the Flower of the Holy Night , ” a reference to its perceived resemblance to the Star of Bethlehem . Displaying poinsettia plantsbecame a far-flung practice session throughout Mexico .
The Legend of the Poinsettia
According to Mexican traditional knowledge about how poinsettias became a Christmas blossom , a child named Pepita was too poor to bring a gift to decorate the church for Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve . In desperation she grabbed a smattering of unripened green goddess on her way to the Christian church . She placed the weeds on the trough and prayed . When she opened her heart , there was a flaming red star top out every weed root word . alfresco , after the quite a little , all the pot in town were topped with red stars . Those mourning band were poinsettias . The stars were their scarlet flowers .
Arrival in the United States
In 1828 , the first U.S. minister to Mexico , Joel Roberts Poinsett was enchanted by the plants he saw blooming in the Mexican winter . A botanist as well as a diplomat , Poinsett institutionalise cuttings of cuetlaxochitl from Mexico to his plate in South Carolina to grow in hisgreenhouses . He set about sharing the plant with his friend , as plant nerds do , and renamed it " Mexican Fire Plant " to help market it in the U.S.
A Pennsylvania baby’s room owner , Robert Buist , begin selling the plant to the populace under its botanic name , Euphorbia pulcherrima . Buist introduced the blossom to Europe , too , where the Vatican began using it as aChristmas medallion . Catholic churches around the globe followed wooing . By 1836 , cuetlaxochitl had become wide known as the poinsettia , in honor of the American guy who first imported it from its native lands . The ancient Aztec plant had become anglicized .
Carson Downing
Credit:Carson Downing
Poinsettias Go Mainstream
The poinsettia remained a little - known plant in the United States , only grown by works geeks and rich people with greenhouse , until the early 20thCentury . Then a German immigrant , Albert Ecke , began growing poinsettias commercially in southerly California in 1909 . Ecke wisely saw an curtain raising for betray flower thatbloomed in the winter .
Initially Ecke sell poinsettias ascut flower , but he shifted to selling them as pot plant to make them easier to send and so they would last longer . Ecke spawn a plant life that was full and short and begin growing and selling them by the M at Christmas when other flowers were scarce . By 1919 , the Ecke familyheld around 100 plant patentsfor poinsettia modifications Albert Ecke has engender . Today , the company Ecke started is still a major painted leaf manufacturer , claiming about half of the worldwide market percentage .
Poinsettias Today
question have been raised about what to call Euphorbia pulcherrima . Besides the coarse mix-up of how to pronounce poinsettia ( or maybe you ’ve heard it as " poinsett - ah " ) , their namesake Poinsett has a bit of an unsavory bequest . He was a hard worker proprietor , played a gravid persona in the forced Native American removal that became known as the Trail of Tears , and meddled so much in Mexican political relation during his clock time as U.S. minister of religion that he was forced to leave the land .
These facts have led some to refuse the name poinsettia in favour of the plant ’s Native name , cuetlaxochitl , or the Flower of the Holy Night if the native Nahuatl pronunciation eludes you . Whatever you call theselovely holiday prime , now you’re able to appreciate their multicultural chronicle and the layers of meaning they carry . recollect about Montezuma , Pepita , the autochthonal peoples who swear on these flowers for medicament , and the German immigrant who turned a savage bush into a darling holiday tradition .
1 . Libhelp . Buist , Robert ( 1805 - 1880 ) . access November 8 , 2024 . https://www.sil.si.edu/silpublications/seeds/buistrobert.html .
1 . Tucker N. Poinsettia : How a U.S. diplomat made a Mexican flower an international deary : Timeless . The Library of Congress . December 22 , 2021 . Accessed November 8 , 2024 . https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/12/poinsettia-how-a-u-s-diplomat-made-a-mexican-flower-an-international-favorite/#:~:text=By%202002%2C%20the%20plant’s%20success,to%20the%20Mexican%20Flower%20Council .
1 . What to call poinsettia . Elisabeth C. Miller Library . access November 8 , 2024 . https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/pal/what-to-call-poinsettia/#:~:text=The%20plant’s%20well%2Dknown%20common,supported%20the%20South%20Carolina%20Unionists .
