The Poinsettia: A Christmas Icon
There are many plants associated with the Christmas season, but nothing screams ‘tis the season IMHO like a ruby-red poinsettia wrapped in shiny foil wrapping paper.
Did you know the poinsettia is the best-selling potted plant in the US, contributing approximately $250 million to the economy? More than 35 million poinsettias are sold each year, most during the six-week stretch leading up to Christmas day.
Clearly, people like the poinsettia. Yet, I guarantee you many despise the plant and consider it a tacky, genetically modified freak sold like fast food to the masses and then committed to the trash. It’s easy to fall into this mindset, especially when you come face to face with a gaudy dyed blue and purple glittered poinsettia growing in floral foam that some grocery store or big box retailers put out even before you’ve tossed out the Thanksgiving leftovers.
Have you ever wondered how the poinsettia came to be associated with the holidays?
The poinsettia is native to southern Mexico and Central America where it was known as cuetlaxochitl, which translates to “flower that wilts.” Yes, the plants wilt, another reason some folks don’t like them.
Responding to the lengthening nights after the autumn equinox, wild cuetlaxochitl comes into full bloom by the month of December. Green leaves give way to red bracts that surround the small yellow flowers on the end of the plants’ tall stems. A bract is a modified leaf associated with a plant’s flowers. In the case of cuetlaxochitl, the brightly colored bracts help attract pollinators to the small flowers.
Converted Mexican Catholics called the plant La Flor de la Nochebuena—Flower of the Holy Night. The flower connects to the legend of a young girl distraught about not having anything with which to honor the Baby Jesus in a Christmas Procession. An angel tells her that any gift given with love is a wonderful gift. Later, the weeds she gathers by the roadside to place around the manger miraculously transform into the beautiful red star flower.
Cuetlaxochitl was introduced to the United States by Joel Poinsett, a South Carolina slaveholder and botanist who as the first US Minister to Mexico came across the plant. In 1828, he sent cuttings of the plant to his plantation greenhouse in South Carolina. Poinsett also sent one of his specimens to Robert Buist, a famous Philadelphia botanist with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
A successful floral import-export executive, Buist introduced the plant in Europe in the 1830s and christened it “Euphorbia Poinsettia” in honor of Poinsett. People quickly began calling it the poinsettia. Interestingly, in all I’ve learned about the poinsettia, the fact that it’s named after a slaveowner seems to be ignored. As does the fact that Mexicans used the word “poinsettismo,” referring to Poinsett to describe actions perceived as American meddling in Mexican affairs.
Anyhow, after the Vatican began using the plant for Christmas decoration in the 19th century, all Catholic churches soon followed suit. But the main reason poinsettias became so popular is due to a man named Paul Ecke, a German immigrant who ran a nursery business in California in the 1920s. Ecke fell in love with the poinsettia and discovered a secret grafting technique that caused seedlings to branch, resulting in a bushier plant. Competitor plants were leggy and prone to splaying open. He began growing the poinsettia in the tens of thousands for Christmas when other flowers were scarce.
In the 1960s, Ecke’s son took over the business. To boost holiday sales, he sent poinsettias to all the major TV shows, including The Tonight Show and Bob Hope’s holiday specials. When the programs aired, red poinsettias were visible to millions of viewers. His marketing strategy worked and the Ecke family soon controlled 90 percent of the poinsettia market.
Things began to change in the 1980s when the family’s secret grafting technique was discovered. Poinsettia breeders everywhere began developing new plants in the dizzying array of colors and shapes you see today. In recognition of the popularity of the poinsettia and the contributions of Poinsett and Ecke, the US Congress in 2002 established National Poinsettia Day as December 12, the date of Poinsett’s death. By 2012, the industry had consolidated, and big box retailers began driving more and more business and making all sorts of demands on the poinsettia breeders. The Ecke family couldn’t keep up, so they sold out.
So, there you have it, the interesting and somewhat disturbing story of the poinsettia. As this is a holiday column, I want to leave you with a final uplifting thought. According to Mexican popular culture, if you receive a poinsettia plant as a gift it will bring you good luck and prosperity. Here’s wishing that for all Letters readers this holiday season. ▼
Rich Barnett is the author of The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town, and Fun with Dick and James.