The Christmas Flower

Poinsettia: The Christmas Flower

Fig. 1. Poinsettia: The Christmas flower in bloom (click image for larger view).

D. Michael Benson(mike_benson@ncsu.edu)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh;
Janet L. Hall(jhall@eckeranch.com)
Paul Ecke Ranch, Encinitas, CA;
Gary W. Moorman(gmoorman@psu.edu)
Pennsylvania State University, University Park;
Margery L. Daughtrey(mld9@cornell.edu)
Cornell University, Long Island Hort Res Lab,
Riverhead, NY;
Ann R. Chase(mtaukum@aol.com)
Chase Research Gardens Inc, Mount Aukum, CA;
Kurt H. Lamour(lamourku@pilot.msu.edu)
Michigan State University, East Lansing
Benson, D.M., Hall, J.L., Moorman, G.W., Daughtrey, M.L., Chase, A.R. and Lamour, K.H. 2001. Poinsettia: The Christmas Flower. APSnet Features. Online. doi: 10.1094/APSnetFeature-2001-1201 

History of the Poinsettia

The poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae. The genus Euphorbia contains some 700 to 1,000 species. It is characterized by a single female flower, without petals and usually without sepals, surrounded by individual male flowers all enclosed in a cup-shaped structure called a cyathium. The showy red, pink, white, or bicolored portion of the plant, popularly referred to as the flower, consists of modified leaves or bracts (Fig. 1).
The poinsettia is a native plant of Mexico and originated in a rather limited region near present day Taxco. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the Aztecs of central Mexico cultivated the plant and called it Cuetlaxochitl. Because of its brilliant color, the poinsettia was a symbol of purity to the Indians. It was highly prized by both King Netzahualcoyotl and Montezuma, but because of the high altitude climate, the plant could not be grown in their capital, now known as Mexico City. The Indians used poinsettia bracts to make a reddish-purple dye. They also made a medicine for fever from the plant’s latex.
During the 17th Century, a group of Franciscan priests settled near Taxco. They began to use the poinsettia in the Fiesta of Santa Pesebre, a native procession. Juan Balme, a botanist of the same period, mentioned the poinsettia plant in his writings. He described it as having large green leaves and a small flower surrounded by bracts, almost as if for protection. The bracts, he said, turned a brilliant red. Balme also found the plant flourishing on the slopes and in the valleys near Cuernavaca.

Fig. 2. Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851) (click image for larger view).

Poinsettias were first introduced in the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett (20,24) (Fig. 2). While serving as the first United States Ambassador to Mexico, he visited Taxco and found the flowers growing on the adjacent hillsides. Poinsett, a botanist of great ability, had some plants sent to his home in Greenville, South Carolina. They did well in his greenhouse and he distributed plants to botanical gardens and to horticultural friends, including John Bartram of Philadelphia. Bartram, in turn, supplied the plant to Robert Buist, a nurseryman who first sold the plant as Euphorbia pulcherrima, Willd. The name poinsettia, however, has remained the accepted name in English-speaking countries.
The modern era of poinsettia culture began with the introduction of the seedling cultivar Oak Leaf (Fig. 3). This cultivar was reported to have been grown originally in Jersey City, New Jersey, by a Mrs. Enteman in 1923. From 1923 until the early 1960s, all of the principal cultivars of commercial importance were selections or sports from this original Oak Leaf seedling.

Fig. 3. Seedling cultivar ‘Oak Leaf,’ the progenitor of modern poinsettia cultivars (click image for larger view).