Poinsettias, (Euphorbia pulcherrima) the bright red leaves that captivate every Christmas. Seen at most stores and a decoration hard to miss, are only about a hundred years new within the U.S., but that doesn’t at all explain how they came to be.
The poinsettia is natively grown as a shrub, marketed (currently) for its bunches of leaves (or bracts) that surround the yellow flowers. In Southern Mexico and Central America, where it was originally cultivated, the plant was used by the ancient Aztecs for dye and medicinal purposes- eventually used in Latin American nativity scenes by the Franciscan friars near Taxco, Mexico.
The poinsettia didn’t come to America on tradition alone, though; Joel Roberts Poinsett, born in 1779 in South Carolina, had a long history of diplomacy, specifically to Mexico as soon as tensions between the U.S. and Britain started to heat up in 1808. During that time, Poinsett helped advocate for Mexico’s independence from Spain, returning to the U.S. later and becoming a member of the legislative branch . It was Poinsett’s last expedition to Mexico around 1828, where his supposed “aggressive interventions within affairs” led to the Mexican government requesting his recall in 1829, and with that, he took a sample of the poinsettia to start cultivating back at his home in Charleston, South Carolina. The journey doesn’t end there, though, as Poinsett wasn’t the first person to actually sell the poinsettia. He gave a plentiful amount of cuttings to his friends and family, most notably Robert Buist, who was able to propagate the plant, showcase and make the first sale of it, which was only continued by the Ecke Family from 1900-1902.
From humble beginnings to more than 70 million poinsettia sales every year in the U.S., the tropical plant has come so far. All across the U.S., poinsettias are grown and are ever-changing the industry of floral and holiday marketing.
With the closing of this historical reflection, we at The Buzz wish you a wonderful new year!
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joel-R-Poinsett
link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310005545/BIC?u=dama42786&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=23d24936.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamental/the-texas-poinsettia-producers-guide/history/
https://horticulture.ces.ncsu.edu/poinsettias/
https://www.swansonsnursery.com/blog/history-of-poinsettias
https://archives.csusm.edu/ecke/
