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Botanist, Diplomat, Linguist and Physician are the professions for which Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1774 - December 12, 1851) became known.

Specifically, Poinsett became Special Envoy of 1822-1823 and then first U.S. Minister to Mexico of 1825-1830. In the course of his travels, he discovered poinsettias growing wild in their native southwest Mexican homeland. As a trained and skilled botanist and scientist, he recognized the cultural demand for and the scientific interest in the possibilities for adding bright, late-blooming color to bleak December landscapes. He therefore became the first person known to introduce the subsequently named poinsettias north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

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14y ago

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