What does the name Poinsettia mean?
What does a poinsettia represent? What is the meaning of poinsettias? Although considered by the ancient Aztecs to be a symbol of purity, in today’s language of flowers, red, white or pink poinsettias, the birth flower for December, symbolize good humor and success and are said to bring good wishes. of joy and celebration.
What plants kill cats?
Here are some of the most common plants poisonous to cats with mild symptoms: Philodendron, Pothos, Dieffenbachia, Peace lily, Poinsettia – Whether it comes from chewing on or ingesting the plants, all of these can lead to mouth and throat irritation, drooling, and vomiting.
What family is the poinsettia in?
The poinsettia ( / pɔɪnˈsɛtiə / or / pɔɪnˈsɛtə /) ( Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family ( Euphorbiaceae ). Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834.
What is the history of the Poinsettia?
The Complete History of Poinsettias & Christmas
- The Legend of Poinsettia. Poinsettia became associated with Christmas only in the 17th century after a legend about a young girl named Pepita had spread around Mexico.
- Poinsettia Early History. ...
- Joel Roberts Poinsett. ...
- National Popularity of Poinsettia. ...
- Poinsettia Symbolism & Customs. ...
- Poinsettia Botanical Facts. ...
What is the another word for poinsettia?
In this page you can discover 14 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for poinsettia, like: painted leaf, hellebore, plumeria, rudbeckia, peony, christmas-star, Christmas flower, Mexican flameleaf, helichrysum, impatiens and nemesia.
What do Mexicans call poinsettias?
flor de nochebuenaPoinsett found in Mexico an exotic plant that blooms red, pointy leaves — not petals — during winter. Mexicans call it “flor de nochebuena” or “Christmas Eve flower.” Attracted by its seasonal beauty, ambassador Poinsett brought it to the United States.
What is the poinsettia called in Central America?
In Mexico, the poinsettia is known as Flor de Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve Flower. You may also see it written as La Flor de la Nochebuena, which means Flower of Christmas Eve. In Spain, Puerto Rico, and other Central America countries it's known as Flor de Pascua or Pascua, meaning Christmas Flower.
What is the red Christmas plant called?
The Christmas Poinsettia: The poinsettia is the most popular indoor Christmas plant. Its association with the Christmas season is because it blooms at this time of year in its native region.
What is the name of the flower that blooms only at night?
Moonflower (Datura species) is both fragrant and exotic. Its large, white trumpet-shaped flowers unfurl at night and reflect the moon's light. And while many varieties of moonflower have an alluring lemon scent, they are poisonous and should be planted well away from areas where children and pets play.
Which flower is called the Christmas Eve flower?
PoinsettiaPoinsettia. The ancient Aztecs (ruling tribe in central Mexico at the time of contact with Europe) prized the poinsettia as a symbol of purity. Centuries later, Mexico's early Christians adopted the poinsettia as their prized Christmas Eve flower.
What is the life expectancy of a poinsettia plant?
How long can you keep a Poinsettia alive? That depends on how well you follow the tips above, but on average a well-cared for poinsettia should last about 4-6 weeks until the flowers start to fall off and you can keep the plant healthy and alive for many months after the holidays come to an end.
What is the name of the poinsettia in Spain?
In Spain the Poinsettia has a different holiday attribution. It is known there as "Flor de Pascua", meaning "Easter flower". Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower, due to the red color.
What is the legend of the poinsettia at Christmas?
A Mexican legend tells of a girl who could only offer weeds as a gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve. When she brought the weeds into a church, they blossomed into the beautiful red plants we know as poinsettias, known as Flores de Noche Buena in Mexico (Spanish for "flowers of the holy night").
What do poinsettias symbolize?
In the United States and other countries, poinsettias symbolize the Christmas season and the miracles it celebrates. Since these winter plants are often red and green, they fit right in with the holiday hues. Poinsettias also mean joy, cheer, and success, regardless of their color.
Can you keep a poinsettia alive all year?
Poinsettias can be kept year after year, and they will bloom each year if you give them proper care. When the leaves begin to yellow or when the plant is no longer desired as an ornamental, gradually withhold water.
How do you get a poinsettia to turn red again?
To coax a poinsettia plant to bloom again, it's necessary to repeat the poinsettia life cycle. After the holidays and once blooming has ceased, limit the amount of watering so the plant can go dormant until spring. Then, usually around March or April, regular watering can be resumed and fertilizing can begin.
Are poinsettias a Mexican tradition?
Poinsettias: “La flor de Nochebuena” December 12 also commemorates the poinsettia — the most popular holiday plant, which is indigenous to Mexico and Central America.
What is La Flor de la Noche Buena?
The plant that graced the botanical gardens of the Aztec empire over 600 years ago, and the flower of Holy Night legends, is the poinsettia (poin seh tee uh), or flor de nochebuena in Spanish. Seen everywhere for sale during a short six weeks of the year, this plant has come to symbolize Christmas.
What is the name of the poinsettia in Spain?
In Spain the Poinsettia has a different holiday attribution. It is known there as "Flor de Pascua", meaning "Easter flower". Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower, due to the red color.
What is the legend of the poinsettia and Christmas in Mexico?
A Mexican legend tells of a girl who could only offer weeds as a gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve. When she brought the weeds into a church, they blossomed into the beautiful red plants we know as poinsettias, known as Flores de Noche Buena in Mexico (Spanish for "flowers of the holy night").
What is a poinsettia?
The poinsettia ( / pɔɪnˈsɛtiə / or / pɔɪnˈsɛtə /) ( Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family ( Euphorbiaceae ). Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834.
Where did the name Poinsettia come from?
It was known by the common name "poinsettia" as early as 1836, derived from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and the first US Minister to Mexico. Possibly as early as 1826, Poinsett began sending poinsettias from Mexico back to his greenhouses in South Carolina. Prior to poinsettia, it was known as "Mexican flame flower" or "painted leaf".
How much is a poinsettia worth?
Each year in the US, approximately 70 million poinsettias are sold in a period of six weeks, at a value of US$250 million. In Puerto Rico, where poinsettias are grown extensively in greenhouses, the industry is valued at $5 million annually.
How many varieties of poinsettias are there?
There are over 100 cultivated varieties of poinsettia that have been patented in the US. To produce extra axillary buds that are necessary for plants containing multiple flowers, a phytoplasma infection—whose symptoms include the proliferation of axillary buds—is used.
What diseases are associated with poinsettias?
Poinsettias are susceptible to several diseases, mostly fungal, but also bacterial and parasitic. Conditions that promote poinsettia propagation also favor certain diseases. Fungal diseases affecting greenhouse poinsettia operations include Pythium root rot, Rhizoctonia root and stem rot, black root rot, scab, powdery mildew, and Botrytis blight. Bacterial diseases include bacterial soft rot and bacterial canker, while a viral disease is Poinsettia mosaic virus. Infection by poinsettia branch-inducing phytoplasma is actually desirable, as it keeps the plants shorter with more flowers. It is the first known phytoplasma that has economically advantageous effects.
Why are poinsettias so fragmented?
Wild poinsettia populations are highly fragmented, as their habitat is experiencing largely unregulated deforestation. They were cultivated by the Aztecs for use in traditional medicine. They became associated with the Christmas holiday and are popular seasonal decorations.
How long does it take for a poinsettia to change color?
The colors of the bracts are created through photoperiodism, meaning that they require darkness (at least fourteen hours at a time for 6–8 weeks in a row) to change color. The plants also require abundant light during the day for the brightest color. The flowers of the poinsettia are unassuming.
1. poinsettia
noun. ['ˌpɔɪnˈsɛˌtiːə'] tropical American plant having poisonous milk and showy tapering usually scarlet petallike leaves surrounding small yellow flowers.
Sentences with poinsettia
1. Noun, singular or mass Diseases can also cause the leaves of a poinsettia to turn yellow or brown and curl up.
Where did the poinsettias come from?
The poinsettia was brought to the United States from Mexico around 1828 by Joel Roberts Poinsett. An avid gardener and amateur botanist, Poinsett was serving as a congressman from South Carolina when he was appointed as the first US Minister to Mexico (a position that he held from 1825 to 1829). While in Mexico , Poinsett observed this species flowering and sent plants back to his greenhouse in Charleston. Until that time, this species was unknown outside of its native range of Mexico and Guatemala, where it was referred to as flor de nochebuena (Christmas Eve flower). Once introduced to the U.S., it quickly gained the common name poinsettia, but is also known by many other common names including Christmas flower, Christmas star, lobster plant, painted leaf, and Mexican flame leaf.
Do poinsettias bloom in the winter?
Poinsettias do not produce flowers year-round. Instead, this species initiates flower buds in winter when the nights are longer than the days. While known as "short day plants," it is actually the exposure to darkness that is critical to the formation of colorful bracts and flower buds. Dark periods of 11 hours, 45 minutes will initiate flowers in most poinsettia varieties, but initiation is most rapid at 14–14.5 hours of darkness. Temperatures above 79 degrees can delay flower initiation, as can exposure to outdoor lights. In order to have poinsettias ready to sell by Thanksgiving, commercial poinsettia growers need to create ideal conditions in their greenhouses in late September or early October. They do this by pulling light-excluding fabric over their nursery benches each afternoon to achieve the required period of darkness and maintain their greenhouses at 62-68 degrees.
Is poinsettia poisonous?
This species has a reputation for being extremely poisonous. While there is little doubt that the milky latex of poinsettias can cause irritation to the skin, eyes, mucus membranes, or when consumed, to the digestive system, poinsettia is apparently one of the less toxic species of Euphorbia.
Where do poinsettias come from?
Poinsettia flowers belong to the Euphorbia family and are related to the Euphorbia polychrome or the Cushion Spurge. These Christmas flowers are native to Mexico and are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S Ambassador to Mexico and a U.S Congressman.
What color are the petals of a poinsettia?
This plant has petals with a yellowish tone and dark-red flushes throughout each one. Like other poinsettias, this one has a center comprised of a group of small, yellow flowers, but it’s the unique color of the petals that has everyone noticing it and wishing to buy it.
What is the flower that is red?
Gardens and Landscaping / Flowers. Poinsettias are the popular flowers that we often see as part of interior decorations during the Christmas season. Those red blooms, however, are only the leaves and not the actual flower. Poinsettia flowers belong to the Euphorbia family and are related to the Euphorbia polychrome or the Cushion Spurge.
What is the name of the flower that Poinsett discovered?
Poinsett discovered them during an envoy to Mexico around Christmastime and introduced the flowers to the U.S.A. Its scientific name Euphorbia pulcherrima is Latin for “the most beautiful Euphorbia.”. They’re also called as the “Painted Leaf” and the “Mexican Fire Plant.”.
What is the best poinsettia to take care of?
Euphorbia Rinehart Code. This is a vigorous, fancy grade of poinsettia, and it has strong, upright stems and bright-red, eye-catching petals. Like other types of Euphorbia Rinehart Code, this one thrives much better when you take good care of it and give it some attention while you have it.
How long does it take for a poinsettia to respond to a syringe?
This plant has warm colors of pink, peach, and yellow, and it has a response time of over 7 weeks. Also called Poinsettia Gold, it makes a stunning and unique Thanksgiving decoration.
How big is a poinsettia pot?
A new variety of poinsettia, it has medium vigor and fits perfectly in pots from 2.5 inches to 7 inches in diameter . It looks beautiful with miniature succulents that are 2.5 inches in size.
What is a poinsettia?
You may be surprised to know that poinsettias are not actually flowers! They are a small shrub, but over time have been trained to grow as the potted plants we so often see during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
What are the red parts of a poinsettia called?
The red parts of the poinsettia that appear to be flower petals are actually leaves (called bracts). They form a circle around a cluster of small yellow flowers on the plant.
Why are poinsettias so popular at Christmas?
In addition to pushing for research funding, Paul Ecke Jr., revolutionized how poinsettias were produced and sold. He gave free plants to talk shows, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which they featured on air.
What does a poinsettia symbolize?
Poinsettias come in over 100 different varieties, and the poinsettia meaning changes depending on the color of the plant. Red poinsettias symbolize the blood of Christ. White poinsettias symbolize Christ’s purity.
How tall do poinsettias get?
In their native environment, poinsettias grow like a shrub and can reach heights of up to 15ft tall.
How did Paul Ecke Jr. impact the history of poinsettias?
impacted the history of poinsettias by helping the horticultural industry push for floral and nursery crops to be included in the US Department of Agriculture’s research budget.
What did Poinsett do to help the world?
A man passionate about science, Poinsett insisted that scientists be included in these global travels. They brought back artifacts to display in Washington, DC (in what is now part of the Smithsonian).
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Overview
The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Robert…
Taxonomy
The poinsettia was described as a new species in 1834 by German scientist Johann Friedrich Klotzsch. Klotzsch credited Carl Ludwig Willdenow with the species name "pulcherrima", and the authority is given as Willd. ex Klotzsch. The holotype had been collected in Mexico during an 1803–1804 expedition by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland.
It was known by the common name "poinsettia" as early as 1836, derived from Joel Roberts Poin…
Description
Euphorbia pulcherrima is a shrub or small tree, typically reaching a height of 0.6–4 metres (2–13 ft). The plant bears dark green dentate leaves that measure 7–16 centimetres (2.8–6.3 in) in length. The colored bracts—which are normally flaming red, with cultivars being orange, pale green, cream, pink, white, or marbled—are often mistaken for flower petals because of their groupings and c…
Chemical composition
Pulcherrol and pulcherryl acetate are among the components of latex. Triterpenes are found in aerial part of this plant including latex and leaves. One of the triterpenoid skeleton is investigated as foundation to drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
Toxicity
Poinsettias are popularly, though incorrectly, said to be toxic to humans and other animals. This misconception was spread by a 1919 urban legend of a two-year-old child dying after consuming a poinsettia leaf. In 1944, the plant was included in H. R. Arnold's book Poisonous Plants of Hawaii on this premise. Though Arnold later admitted that the story was hearsay and that poinsettias …
Range and habitat
The poinsettia occurs in Central America, from Mexico to southern Guatemala. Its range is about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long, encompassing mid-elevation tropical dry forests. Most wild populations are on Pacific-facing slopes in steep canyons. Populations were once found in rolling hill areas, though many have gone extinct. It has been hypothesized that the inaccessibility of the canyons may protect the wild populations from human disturbance. There is a somewhat anomalous pop…
Conservation
The tropical dry forests where wild poinsettias grow experience largely unregulated deforestation, resulting in habitat loss. Its natural habitat is thus highly fragmented, particularly near metropolitan areas such as Taxco. Population sizes are frequently very small, with as few as a dozen individuals. Populations can be up to several hundred individuals, but this is not typical. A conservation risk typical for species with wild and cultivated populations is the contamination o…
In culture
Aztec people use the plant to produce red dye and as an antipyretic medication. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the plant is called Cuetlaxochitl, meaning "flower that grows in residues or soil" Today it is known in Mexico and Guatemala as flor de Nochebuena or simply nochebuena, meaning 'Christmas Eve flower'. In Spain it is known as Flor de Pascua or Pascua, meaning Easter fl…