Happy Poinsettia Day: Christmas’s most favorite plant
Happy Poinsettia Day
Christmas’s most favorite plant
Tis the season for Poinsettias. The Poinsettia is definitely a staple this time of year. It is the most seasonally decorative plant of choice for businesses and homes. It has become a flag in its own right, announcing the beginning of the Christmas season. Today is National Poinsettia Day. This festive day happens every year on December 12th marking the anniversary of Poinsett’s death.
December 12th is National Poinsettia Day
When did the fascination with Poinsettias begin and why does it seem like the demand for poinsettias is growing?
I have recently come across a few towering Poinsettias shaped to resemble Christmas trees. This starking display has caused me to consider the special fascination with Poinsettias. Let’s look at a brief history of where Poinsettias come from.
Poinsettias come from Central America, an area of Mexico called Taxco de Alacron. Centuries before Poinsettias became a Christmas tradition in Britain, the ancient Aztecs used the flowers, which they called Cuetlaxochitl, to make dyes of crimson and purple to tint cosmetics while the milky white sap was used to treat fever. The flower’s Latin name is “Euphorbia Pulcherrima” which means “the most beautiful Euphorbia”, euphorbia being a large and diverse genus of flowering plants. It is said that Montezuma, the last ruler of the Aztecs, loved poinsettias so much that he had caravans of them brought from lower elevations to Teotihuacan, the Aztec capital.
Poinsettias’ Latin name is “Euphorbia Pulcherrima” which loosely translates to “the most beautiful of the flowering plants”
Some of the more recorded modern uses of poinsettia plants begin with the Catholic churches in Mexico, some traditions still passed down from their Aztecan roots. Franciscan monks first used the plant in the nativity processions in the Mexican town of Taxco de Alarcon. At the same time, the Mexican tradition of Pepita and the “Flowers of the Holy Night” grew, making the Poinsettia an even more important part of the Christmas story, before it was popularized in Britain and named after Joel Robert Poinsett.
Due to its Aztec roots, Poinsettias became popular in Mexican Christmas traditions well before anyone in the United States learned of them
Joel Roberts Poinsett was the first ambassador from the United States to Mexico in 1825. Poinsett was a physician, politician, and botanist. He spent much of his time studying plants. He had many greenhouses on his plantation in South Carolina. When he visited Taxco, Mexico in 1828 he became fascinated with the Cuetlaxochitl plant. During this time, what we now know as poinsettias connection to Christmas was only localized to Mexican villages and traditions. He sent many of the plants back to South Carolina and began growing them in his greenhouse where he shared them with friends and other botanists.
Poinsettias are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the botanist and ambassador to Mexico who introduced the US to the plants
News about the Poinsettia plant spread fast and it was considered a magical Christmas plant. The Poinsettia plant is a shrub with dark green leaves whose leaves magically turn into a vibrant crimson during the Winter season. Word about the Poinsettias’ beauty got to Robert Buist, a Scottish born nurseyman and seedsman. He decided to grow and study them. Buist was also the first to market the plant to the general public.
Robert Buist was the first person to sell Poinsettias to the general public.
In honor of the man who introduced the plant to the United States and started a holiday custom that continues to this day, the plant was officially given the name of “Poinsettia” in about 1836.The first National Poinsettia Day was celebrated on December 12, 2002. There are many ways to observe Poinsettia Day. One of the best ways is to share it with friends and family. Happy Holidays!
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