Where did the poinsettia originate, and what exactly kind of 'flower' is it?

Question

The pronouncement has changed in the past few years - the "i" was always silent - now it is pronounced "poinsett-ya". Why?

Answer 1

I've met many people who pronouce it "Pwa-set-tia." Whatever.

Joel Poinset was an US Embassador to Mexico and was know more for his political .......intrigue?? Today we just remember this plant.

You can find the story behind why the plant is associated with Christmas......poor peasant boy story bringing something to decorate the church for Christmas and brought these shrubs which magically turned red inside the church. Nice story.

Actually it is a natural as it does flower just after the shortest days of the year.

The red part is not the flower. Those are modified leaves call bracts. The true flowers are those little nubbins up in the middle of the bracts. Those are typical Euphorbia flowers....spurge family just like some weeds in the garden. You can tell the freshness of your plant by the condition of the flowers. When they are open they have a little "dew" in the middle of the flower. If the flowers are missing, the plant is old.

The first poinsettias brought to this country were the species shrubs. Imagine trying to keep those in 6 inch pots for the Holidays!! Growers wound the stems around, tried dwarfing spray and when the lower leaves began to fall off as was natural, they planted ivy in the pot to cover the bare stems. I've often suspected the reason gift plants come "dressed" with the foil around the pots was to hide the naked poinsettia stems.

The advancement in Poinsettia culture in this country is the Eckes family in Calif. For generations they have been working at bringing a smaller, bolder, less tempermental plant to the home market. They have succeeded. Now you get plants that are hard to kill!!

Answer 2

It originated in Mexico and is named after its discoverer. The colored leaves you see are not flowers. They are, in fact, leaves. People bungled the pronunciation for so long as poinsett-a, am very glad that with media and ads, people are pronouncing it poinsett-ee-a. I like them but can't have one because we have a cat...

Answer 3

The poisettia originated in Mexico, and was brought into this country by(if I remember rightly) George Poinses. This was back in the colonial days, and if you research him, you'll find it mentioned.