All About Poinsettias: A Favorite Holiday Plant

Poinsettias are probably my favorite holiday plant! They are so colorful, now available in various shades, and with the proper care, they last for a long time.

One of the first units I taught in a garden club was a holiday plant unit in 2004. My students, ages 7–11, were keen to learn about these plants that seemed to magically pop up in every store from Target to where their parents shopped for groceries. Poinsettias were only one type of holiday plant we covered but there was a lot of material, from plant care to the history of the plant to the lore and legends surrounding this colorful shrub that’s grown in a pot

That’s right — poinsettias are shrubs when they are found growing in their native tropical climate of Mexico. They can get reach heights of ten to fifteen feet in the wild but tend to be spindly. I first realized this on a trip to Maui in 2015 when I saw a huge poinsettia near the roadside when we biked down Haleakala Volcano.

The poinsettia is a tropical plant that belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. There are many cultivars. Many Euphorbia excrete a milky sap that can be irritating to the skin. Poinsettias will ooze the sap if a stem is cut. Due to being a tropical plant, poinsettias do not like drafts of any kind. In your home, they should be kept away from fireplaces, heat registers, warm kitchen appliances, windows, and doors, especially if they are opening and closing frequently.

General care of the poinsettia includes daytime temperatures of 60–70 degrees and lower nighttime temperatures of 55–60 degrees. The lower nighttime temperature preserves the colored bracts longer.

This brings us to an interesting fact about poinsettias. The flowers are not the colorful leaves! These are called bracts and are modified leaves, not flowers. The flowers are the small yellowish, green knobs in the center of the bracts.

Poinsettias should not be allowed to dry out completely. If the surface soil feels dry, the plant can take some water. At the time of watering, it should be done thoroughly, until the water drains from the pot. I always keep a drip plate or tray under my poinsettias. Do not allow the plant to sit in standing water.

Contrary to popular belief, poinsettias are not poisonous to humans. Ohio State University did a study, years ago, which resulted in this finding. A small child ate 500 bracts and only had a small stomach ache.

The most interesting thing to me about poinsettias is that they have a great deal of history in different cultures. Some of the history spawned lore and legends about the poinsettia. It was a plant loved by the Aztecs who called the plant Cuetlaxochitl. They used it medicinally to control fevers.

A beloved children’s author, Tomie dePaola, tells The Legend of the Poinsettia in his same-named book. You can hear the story below.

The Legend of the Poinsettia — YouTube Readers are Leaders

If you know alternative names for the poinsettia, such as the Christmas Star, you can imagine how the story goes. A young Mexican girl has no gift but gives one from her heart. The colorful leaves of the poinsettia play an important role in the story. Although this book was published almost thirty years ago, it is still in print and available on Amazon today. It’s a great story with wonderful illustrations for young children. I always brought some books into my garden club lessons.

Finally, as we occasionally traveled during holiday time, I’ve always loved seeing the poinsettias in different settings. Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square Pennsylvania has gorgeous displays, including trees made entirely of poinsettia plants. We saw similar decorations one year when we went to San Diego in the town of La Jolla. And you already know what I saw on Maui — a poinsettia growing in the wild!

Poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant. Although women are most often the buyers, my husband usually buys me mine, as a pre-holiday gift. It used to be that California’s Paul Ecke Ranch grew most of the world’s poinsettias. Despite Ecke selling the business in 2012, it still exists and produces more than 70% of the poinsettias in the US and 50% worldwide. (Source.)

If you are looking for more information about poinsettias, the cooperative extension office in your state is a great place to start. Here are a few links:

History & Legends- The Poinsettia Pages - University of Illinois Extension

The Poinsettia: An Evolving Tradition - Longwood Gardens.org

I’ve had the good fortune to visit Longwood Gardens twice during holiday time. It is well worth a visit! If you check out the article you’ll be treated to some gorgeous photos of the gardens.

The above sources were used in creating this article and my own notes date back to 2004, using the same sources.

National Poinsettia Day falls on December 12th each year!

This article was previous published on my Medium.com page, under my name, entitled. Poinsettias: The Most Colorful of Holiday Plants, November, 10, 2022.