Christmas Flower - Poinsettia

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The Christmas flower is the Poinsettia. It is a very recognizable flower that is known for its distinctive brilliant red color. This color lead to its alternate name the Mexican flame leaf. The color actually occurs on the leaves of the plant and the flower is a small barely visible part of the plant. The plant is native to Mexico and was named after the first United States Ambassador to Mexico Joel Roberts Poinsett.

The color of the poinsettia is caused by tricking the flower, by keeping it in complete darkness for 12 hours for a period of about 2 months. Most greenhouses start the process in September so the plants are ready for the end of November or early December. Advanced cultivation methods have produced poinsettias in pale reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, and white colors, although the most popular color continues to be red.

There is an urban legend that the poinsettia plant is toxic, this is completely false. In 1919 a 2year old child died and the cause was attributed to the plant. Later tests prove this to be false. The spurge genus of plant which the poinsettia is a member are mostly toxic however for a 50 lb child to die from eating leaves they would have to ingest over 1lb of leaves or about 500 leaves.

Poinsettia plants became associated with from a Mexican legend. A small poor child went to church to offer a gift on Christmas Eve. Having no money for an offering the child picked weeds from the side of the road. While the gift was meager and humble it was given in love and they miraculously changed into the bright poinsettia plants we know today.

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