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About Poinsettia

Euphorbia pulcherrima, the poinsettia, is a Mexican and Central American shrub that became the world's most recognizable holiday plant. Its showy red, white, pink, or marbled display is made of bracts, not petals; the true flowers are the small yellow structures clustered at the center. In the wild it can reach 3-4 meters, far taller than the compact potted forms sold in December. The Aztecs used the colorful bracts for dye, and Franciscan monks later linked the star-like display with Christmas processions. Joel Roberts Poinsett introduced the plant to US horticulture in 1828. Recoloring it requires weeks of long uninterrupted nights, which is why commercial growers manage darkness with almost clockmaker precision.

• Tropical

How to care for Poinsettia

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At a Glance

Bloom time

Fragrance

Toxicity

History

Euphorbia pulcherrima is native to the Pacific and southern mountains of Mexico and adjacent western Guatemala, where it grows as a shrub or small tree reaching 3-4 meters in open tropical forest. The Aztecs called it "cuetlaxochitl" and cultivated it for its intense red winter bracts, which they used to dye textiles and in religious ceremonial contexts; the plant was associated with the winter solstice. After Spanish conquest, 16th-17th century Franciscan friars in the Taxco region incorporated the plant into Christmas nativity celebrations, creating the "Flor de Nochebuena" (Christmas Eve Flower) tradition that remains central to Mexican Christmas culture. Joel Roberts Poinsett — botanist, politician, and first US Minister to Mexico — observed the plant during his 1825-1829 posting and sent cuttings back to his South Carolina greenhouse in 1828.

The English name "poinsettia" honors Poinsett. The species gradually spread through American horticulture in the later 19th century, but the modern commercial Christmas poinsettia industry was essentially invented by the Ecke family of Encinitas, California, who from about 1906 to 2008 dominated global cuttings production through a closely-held propagation secret (they grafted poinsettia cultivars to produce the compact, bushy, multi-stemmed houseplant form). When the technique was finally published by a university researcher in 1991, the industry opened up; the Ecke operation was sold in 2012.

The common belief that poinsettias are deadly toxic is a persistent myth — modern studies show the plant is only mildly irritant, not deadly, to pets and humans. The poinsettia's journey from Mexican wild shrub to global Christmas icon is a remarkable cultural story. The Aztecs cultivated it as 'cuetlaxochitl,' extracting red dye from the bracts and using the latex medicinally. In the 16th century, Franciscan monks in Taxco incorporated the red star-shaped bracts into their Christmas Eve Nativity processions, beginning the Christmas association. The Ecke family of California dominated poinsettia production for most of the 20th century, developing the compact forms we know today through a grafting secret kept for decades. Over 70 million poinsettias are sold in the U.S. each holiday season, making it the best-selling potted plant in America.

Symbolism & meaning

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Frequently asked questions