What are Poinsettias?
It’s the most popular Christmas plant: the poinsettia. Churches and homes are filled with these colorful plants during December, but what are they? Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) as we see them today are somewhat different from the plant that is native to Mexico. Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, saw the plant and introduced it to the United States. Horticulturist William Prescott named the plant in Poinsett’s honor. The Ecke family of California started producing this plant in their greenhouse and bred it into the showy Christmas plant we all know. Poinsettias may have red, white or pink bracts. The colorful bracts are not flowers, but modified leaves. The flowers are in the center of the bracts. However, it is for the bracts that people buy poinsettias. The red color varies from a deep, velvety burgundy to a lighter scarlet. The pink varieties may be anywhere from carnation pink to fuchsia, while white poinsettias are usually more of a rich cream, often with a green o
