These facts about poinsettias may surprise you
Red poinsettia plants are classic elements of holiday décor in the United States. They adorn many mantelpieces and turn up in table centerpieces and even wreaths.
Here are some fun and useful facts about your holiday poinsettia plant:
That’s not a flower: “Most people think a poinsettia is a flower with bright red petals that happens to bloom around Christmas,” said Julie Janoski, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “In fact, those aren’t petals. They’re specialized leaves called bracts.” In the center of the bracts is a cluster of tiny yellow flowers. If you buy a poinsettia while the little yellow flower buds are still closed, it will last longer.
It’s a shrub: The poinsettia plant is a bush or small tree that is native to the understory of moist, warm, low-altitude forests in Mexico and Central America. It was cultivated by the Aztecs for dyes long before European settlement. It is often used in gardens in tropical regions with warm winters.
It has many names: The Aztecs called the plant cuetlaxochitl (kwet-la-sho-she). In Spanish it is known as la flor de Nochebuena, or “the Christmas eve plant,” because its green bracts turn red just before the holiday. Botanists call it Euphorbia pulcherrima. It’s commonly called a “poinsettia” in the United States because it was brought to this country in the 1820s by Joel Poinsett, a botanist and U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
Marketing made it a tradition:
Poinsettias entered the U.S. holiday tradition a century ago. In the 1920s, technology was being developed to produce tropical plants in heated greenhouses on a large scale and transport them safely to cold places like Chicago.
To capitalize on this technology, a California greenhouse grower, Paul Ecke, promoted a compact poinsettia variety as a Christmas plant. Today there are many commercial varieties in white, pink and orange, as well as red.
It’s sensitive: Both heat and cold can damage a poinsettia, so keep it away from cold windows as well as heating vents and fireplaces.
“A poinsettia plant will last longest away from direct light in a relatively cool room, with temperatures in the mid-60s,” Janoski said. If it is well cared for, it should last six to eight weeks.
Drainage is critical: A poinsettia is often sold with foil or plastic wrapped around the pot. “That will trap water around the plant’s roots and cause them to rot,” she said. Immediately remove the wrapping or puncture it with several holes on the bottom so water can drain away. Set the pot in a saucer or tray to catch water, and empty the saucer each time you water the plant.
Overwatering is the best way to kill a poinsettia. Before you water, make sure the top inch of potting mix feels dry.
Water sparingly:
Consider it temporary: In their native Mexico, the plants are long-lived outdoor shrubs, but think twice before keeping a potted poinsettia from year to year. “It’s fine as a houseplant with green leaves, but getting the bracts to turn red again next year will be very tricky,” Janoski said. In the tropical forest or garden, poinsettias change color in response to lengthening nights in fall and winter. To mimic that signal and cause a green poinsettia to turn red indoors, you’ll need to keep it in complete, uninterrupted darkness for 14 hours and in light at least eight hours every day starting in early October. A commercial grower can manage this manipulation much more easily than a homeowner. “If you enjoy poinsettias as holiday décor, it’s a lot easier to buy them already colored and then compost them in January,” Janoski said.