Poinsettias bloom in many homes the world over at Christmas. They form an important part of the Christmas décor.
There is an interesting Mexican legend which connects the Poinsettia to Christmas.
Mexican legend
Pepita was a poor Mexican girl. One Christmas, she had no gift to give Baby Jesus during the Christmas Services. She was very sad about it and it was woth a heavy heart that she slowly walked towards the Church to attend the Christmas Eve Service.
Pepita’s cousin, Pedro felt sorry for her and tried to cheer her up.
“Pepita, I am sure that even a small, simple gift from someone who loves him will make Jesus happy.”
After hearing her cousin’s words, Pep[ta decided to take some wayside flowering weeds as a gift for Baby Jesus. She plucked some and made a small bouquet.
However, in church as she walked towards the altar and the crib with her small bouquet she felt sad and embarrassed that she had only this small present to give Jesus.
Then she remembered her cousin Pedro’s words and felt better. She knelt at the crib and as she offered her boquet to Jesus the weeds burst into beautiful, bright, red blooms.
Everyone present at the Service felt that a miracle had occurred.
From that day the Poinsettia flowers became known as Flores de Noche Buena, or 'Flowers of the Holy Night'.
The shape of the Poinsettia flower and leaves are sometimes thought of as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem which guided the Wise Men to Jesus.
The red leaves symbolise the blood of Christ. The white leaves represent his purity.
Cuetlaxochitl
Poinsettia plants are native to Central America, especially an area of southern Mexico known as Taxco del Alarcon where they flower during the winter. The ancient Aztecs called them cuetlaxochitl.
The Aztecs had many uses for them including using the flowers (actually special types of leaves known as bracts rather than being flowers) to make a purple dye for clothes and cosmetics and the milky white sap was made into a medicine to treat fevers. (Today we call the sap latex!)
The poinsettia was made widely known because of a man called Joel Roberts Poinsett (that's why we call them Poinsettia).
He was the first Ambassador from the USA to Mexico in 1825.
Poinsett had some greenhouses on his plantations in South Carolina, and while visiting the Taxco area in 1828, he became very interested in the plants.
He immediately sent some of the plants back to South Carolina, where he began growing the plants and sending them to friends and botanical gardens.
It is thought that they became known as Poinsettia in the mid 1830s when people found out who had first brought them to America from Mexico.
The Poinsettia is also the national emblem of Madagascar.