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← 2014 Advent Botany – Day 22 – A Partridge in a Pear tree
2014 Advent Botany – Day 24 – The Brussels Sprout (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera) →

2014 Advent Botany – Day 23 – Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Alastair Culham
A poinsettia from a UK supermarket providing Christmas colour.

A poinsettia from a UK supermarket providing Christmas colour.

The supermarkets in the UK currently have shelves full of Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with the distinctive bright red bracts, but poinsettia production is a risky business with high fuel costs and low retail prices causing some UK growers to reduce production.  However there is no suggestion yet that poinsettias will be replaced with hardier plants such as hybrid Cyclamen even though these can provide a very long season of bright red flowers.  One of the problems is that homes are generally heated to temperatures that suit poinsettia better than Cyclamen so the needs of the homeowner and the producer may not match up.  Today’s blog is kindly provided by Dawn Bazely who has experience of poinsettia as both a house plant and a garden plant.

A poinsettia in flower (Photo Dawn Bazely)

A poinsettia in flower (Photo Dawn Bazely)

Poinsettias are native to Mexico and Central America, where they have been associated with Christmas since European missionaries colonized the americas in the 17th century. They are the top-selling potted plant Canada and USA. What most people think of as the red flower petals, are actually bracts, which are modified leaves. The actual flower is very small.

Poinsettia growing outside.

Poinsettia growing outside.

The plant’s common name has its roots in the surname of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico. In 1828 he observed the plant and sent it home to the USA where it can grow outside in the south. When growing in the wild (or in gardens) in Mexico, like here, the plant is a tall, leggy bush.

In the early 1900s, a German immigrant to California, Paul Ecke, sold cut stems of poinsettia at his farm stand, but he later developed a grafting technique that produced the compact, dense potted plants with multiple flower stems per plant, that we see today. His son and grandson marketed poinsettias intensively, which is why they are so ubiquitous. There are dozens of varieties today, ranging from red, to pink, to white.

 

Schools often do fund-raising by selling poinsettias to hapless parents and neighbours (like me). I’ve managed to keep my various poinsettia plants alive from one year to the next. Here’s a 3-year old straggly plant that has flowered again!

Last year's poinsettia back in flower.

Last year’s poinsettia back in flower.

References

http://www.poinsettiaday.com/index.html

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/facts.cfm

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artdec08/bj-poinsettia.html

The RHS provide practical advice on what to do with your poinsettia to ensure a neat well coloured plant for next year.

Editor’s note

In 2002, December 12th became National Poinsettia day in the USA in celebration of the work of Paul Ecke Jr. in commercialising this species (Poinsettia Day).  The date commemorates the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the discoverer of the species.

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About Alastair Culham

A professional botanist and biologist with an interest in promoting biological knowledge and awareness to all.
View all posts by Alastair Culham →
This entry was posted in Advent, Herbarium RNG, Public Engagement with Science and tagged #AdventBotany, Euphorbia pulcherrima, poinsettia. Bookmark the permalink.
← 2014 Advent Botany – Day 22 – A Partridge in a Pear tree
2014 Advent Botany – Day 24 – The Brussels Sprout (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera) →
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Last reply was 7 months ago
  1. #Advent Botany – the full story! | Dr M Goes Wild
    View December 23, 2014

    […] #AdventBotany Day 23 –  Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) a modern house plant of Christmas if ever there was one! If you didn’t know you can tell its Spurge family – Euphorbiaceae – from the copious streaming white latex which exudes from any broken or damaged parts! Today’s blog is once again provided by Dawn Bazely who has experience of poinsettia as both a house plant and a garden plant. Poinsettias are native to Mexico and Central America, where they have been associated with Christmas since European missionaries colonized the Americas in the 17th century. They are the top-selling potted plant Canada and USA. What most people think of as the red flower petals, are actually bracts, which are modified leaves, the actual flower is tiny. Read more at Culham Research group here. […]

    Reply
  2. Getting Ready for #AdventBotany – here’s a reprise of 2014 | Culham Research Group
    View December 3, 2015

    […] Dates – Young dates changing from golden to brown Day 22 – Pear Day 23 – A poinsettia from a UK supermarket providing Christmas colour. Day 24 […]

    Reply
  3. Advent Botany 2015 – Day 12: Anyone can grow paperwhites but their taxonomy is a different story | Culham Research Group
    View December 12, 2015

    […] with blooming amaryllis (Hippeastrum) and poinsettias, paperwhites are popular Christmas gifts in North America. Forcing, the process of getting spring […]

    Reply
  4. #AdventBotany and Alien Abductions 😉 | Dawn Bazely: forthright, collaborative, interdisciplinary & fun
    View December 16, 2015

    […] Poinsettia Red-osier dogwood […]

    Reply
  5. The Son of #AdventBotany 2015! | Dr M Goes Wild
    View December 24, 2015

    […] think about Christmas plants you probably think about hollyand ivy, possibly Christmas trees and poinsettias, and maybe even Brussels sprouts and parsnips. But I bet you don’t think about radishes. And yet, […]

    Reply
  6. Guest blogging about Advent Botany at the University of Reading | Dawn Bazely: forthright, collaborative, interdisciplinary & fun
    View January 6, 2017

    […] are the links to my posts: In 2014, I wrote about poinsettias, red-osier dogwood, and amaryllis, and I contributed recipes to posts about dates and […]

    Reply
  7. #AdventBotany Day 2: Cultivated Cranberries beyond the Festive Season | Culham Research Group
    View December 2, 2017

    […] original, and I contributed to posts on popular North American festive plants: red-osier dogwood, poinsettia and […]

    Reply
  8. #AdventBotany Day 8: Cultivating Christmas | Culham Research Group
    View December 8, 2017

    […] After all, why should just the ivies (click here for the magnificent monograph), hollies and poinsettias have all the fun? Here’s a list of some of our dried and pressed cultivated plants that celebrate […]

    Reply
  9. #AdventBotany Day 19: Christmas Kalanchoe – Kalanchoe blossfeldiana | Culham Research Group
    View December 19, 2017

    […] names have featured in previous Advent Botany blogs; the Christmas cactus and the Christmas Star or Poinsettia. All three are staples of the holiday and florist trade1 having been bred to provide colour in […]

    Reply
  10. #AdventBotany 2018, Day 18: Advent VLOG | Culham Research Group
    View 11 months ago

    […] is one of our long-standing contributors and has contributed: poinsettias, cranberries, red-osier dogwood, amaryllis, white cedar, balsam fir, paperwhites, ivy, candy cane […]

    Reply
  11. A VLOG to celebrate the 5th birthday of the #AdventBotany blog series | Bazely Biology lab: collaborative, interdisciplinary, fun
    View 7 months ago

    […] Advent Botany, I have blogged about poinsettias, cranberries, red-osier dogwood, amaryllis, white cedar, balsam fir, paperwhites, ivy, candy cane […]

    Reply
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