Poinsettias

Yes, poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) can grow in Florida.

Specifically, poinsettias are native to semi-tropical and tropical Latin America. The challenges in Florida come from the threat of bacterial and fungal attacks, high high winds, high temperatures and freezing temperatures. In order to survive, Florida-grown poinsettias need locations that will give them the following:

1. High intensity sunlight from which they are protected from a position of light shade;

2. Humid environment in which breezes are light and therefore do not become bruising or drying;

3. Protection from exposure to herbicides such as weed killers;

4. Soil that is clean and well-aerated; holds moisture but not to the point of waterlogging; and has good drainage and high fertility;

5. Temperatures that range from 60 degrees F/15.56 degrees C at night to 60-80 degrees F/15.56-26.67 degrees F during the day.

A mature height of 2 feet-15 feet/0.6096-4.9 meters is possible for poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima), depending upon the context.

Specifically, in their native Mexican habitat, poinsettias have a chance of realizing their full potential as perennial shrubs. But in the United States of America, they traditionally are viewed as end-of-year holiday plants to be kept in houseplant containers and treated as annuals whose life is short and whose demise is imminent. In this role, they tend to be cultivated to reach mature heights about one-eighth (1/8) of their potential in the wild.

Yes, poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) need water.

Specifically, poinsettias like humid air and moist (not waterlogged) soil. In fact, they need soil to be fertile, well-aerated and well-drained. They do not like soil to dry out. The soil always must be moist to the touch.

Generally, plants need to be watered every 7-10 days. In between waterings, a simple soil test involves sticking a sharp object such as a pencil, ruler or soil probe down into the soil. If the object comes clean, the soil is too dry. If the object becomes muddy, then the soil is waterlogged. If the object has soil particles clinging to it like little freckles or speckles, then the soil is adequately moist.

The French language is the source of the word "poinsettia" (Eurphorbia pulcherrima).

Specifically, the word adds to the French family name Poinsett the suffix "-ia." Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 - December 12, 1851) is the individual responsible for the introduction of the December-blooming plant into the United States of America. As a trained botanist, he noticed the plant in its native habitat in southwestern Mexico. He realized the scientific interest and the cultural import of such a beautiful, late-flowering plant and began sending specimens to select botanist friends in 1828.

The flower is where the poinsettia bloom is located.

Specifically, the flower blooms a dainty, inconspicuous yellow. But it is surrounded by modified leaves called bracts. The true bracts that immediately surround the flower are always red in color. The transitional bracts that are found between the true bracts and the plant's regular leaves start out green in color. But they change to a bright red color by the time that the plant blooms in December.

Poinsettia admirers often mistakenly describe the color change in the transitional bracts as a "bloom."

The seventeenth (17th) century in Mexico and the twentieth (20th) century in the United States of America are the dates at which the holiday tradition of poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) began.

Specifically, in the seventeenth (17th) century, Franciscan missionaries discovered poinsettias growing in the plant's native southwest Mexican environment. They appreciated the bright color that the late-blooming plant brought to the Christmas holidays. They agreed with the indigenous interpretation of the plant's brightly colored modified leaves as symbols of spiritual purity. So the missionaries began incorporating the plant into the end-of-the-year religious rituals of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico.

In the nineteenth (19th) century, Joel RobertsPoinsett (March 2, 1774 - December 12, 1851) came across the plants in the course of his travels as Special Envoy of 1822-1823 and as first U.S. Minister to Mexico of 1825-1830. As a botanist, he also appreciated the plant's late bloom. As a linguist familiar with many cultures and languages, he appreciated the plant's possible cultural adaptations in the United States. So Poinsett began sending specimens back to his own greenhouses in South Carolina and to those of select botanist friends.

In the twentieth (20th) century, the Ecke family moved from Germany and Switzerland to the Hollywood area of California. They too recognized the cultural and scientific worth of poinsettias. They began specializing in growing, promoting and selling poinsettias. They too recognized the connection that could be made between the plant's brightly colored December bloom and the celebration of the Christmas holidays.

Mexico is the country of origin and spiritual purity is the symbolism of poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima).

Specifically, poinsettias are native to southwestern Mexico. The beautiful, late color change of their modified leaves from green to bright red got the attention of the Aztecs of ancient Mexico. The Aztecs considered beautifully bright red symbolic of spiritual purity. The color change coincided with important end-of-year religious rituals.

In the 17th century, Franciscan missionaries settled in Mexico. They came across the plant and were similarly impressed by the timing of the dramatic color change that the plant goes through. They too interpreted bright red as an appealing, useful symbol of spiritual purity. The timing of the color change conveniently coincided with Nativity celebrations in late December.

For about ten (10) weeks after a start date anytime between September 20 and October 20 poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) need artificial darkness.

Specifically, that start date is the time at which poinsettias naturally initiate the process that culminates in the plant's late December bloom. In order for the process to start, poinsettias need no less than 12 hours 20 minutes of darkness on a daily basis during the above-mentioned time period. But in actuality the flowering process is jump-started anytime during the year in which the previously listed conditions are met. It therefore is possible to see the dainty, inconspicuous yellow flowers and the brightly colored modified leaves at times other than the end of the year.

Taxco de Alarcón is the part of Mexico to which poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are native.

Specifically, the city and the municipality of Taxco, as it often is called, are located in the southwestern state of Guerreros. The plant also is common to Morelos. Additionally, its ranges spreads southward through the seven (7) countries of Central America.

Ornamental plants is the main use today for poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima).

Specifically, poinsettias are plants that are linked closely with the end-of-the-year holidays. The reason lies in the bloom of its dainty, inconspicuous yellow flower and in the dramatic color change of its modified leaves from green to red. The bloom and the color change are finalized in December.

In its native environment in Mexico and Central America, the plant is a perennial shrub. There is a growing trend for holiday buyers to stop treating the plant as an annual ornamental whose life span begins and ends with the Christmas holidays. The plant therefore is finding increased use as a resident houseplant or even as an outdoor perennial in certain areas of the world, such as Florida.

Additionally, the traditional use of the plant's body parts in practical, useful ways continues. For example, from the modified leaves a rich purplish dye can be made. From the milky substance that its insides contain a natural fever-busting treatment can be had.

Poinsettias were, are and always will be versatile plants whose practical beauty is more than skin deep.

Just about anything is possible in terms of the sizes and colors in which poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are available.

Specifically, poinsettias are native to southwestern Mexico and on south into the Central American countries. In its native range, it was allowed to grow as a shrub in the wild and as a cultivated plant for such ancient civilizations as that of the Aztec Empire. Because of an ancient interpretation of its color as symbolic of spiritual purity, red was the preferred color of poinsettias until the 20th century.

In the 20th century, poinsettias became popular as houseplant-sized annual plants for the Christmas holidays. The preference for red was continued. But with the scientific and technological changes of the 20th and 21st centuries, other colors and color combinations such as blue, marbled, mosaic, orange, purple and yellow are available nowadays.

Additionally, in a move that pays tribute to the plant's native southwestern Mexican environment, poinsettias are becoming increasingly popular and available in large sizes. Where houseplant sizes used to be the rule in markets outside Mexico, supply needs to accommodate growers and purchasers who seek to respect the plant's inherent genetics as a perennial plant whose mature height is 15-16 feet/4.57-4.88 meters.

Charleston is the part of South Carolina where Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1774 - December 12, 1851) was born.

Specifically, Poinsett was educated and trained to spend his life as a skilled botanist, linguist, physician and statesman. All of his education and experience culminated in his years as Special Envoy of 1822-1823 and as first U.S. Minister to Mexico of 1825-1830. With his knowledge of diplomacy, languages, plants and science, he recognized the importance of the late-blooming poinsettia plant and managed to get specimens sent from its native Mexico to the United States of America in the early 19th century.

Red, pink, white and green are the basic colors of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) bracts.

Specifically, the bracts are modified leaves that protect the dainty, inconspicuous flower. Given the correct altitude and latitude and the appropriate range of temperature, nutrition, moisture and light intensity, the plant will initiate flowering any time that it undergoes 12 hours 20 minutes of uninterrupted darkness for five (5) days straight. Flower bud initiation is accompanied by initiation of a color change in the normally green bracts.

The flowers are yellow. The leaves are green. The original, basic color options for the bracts are pink, red, and white. But many more shades and colors are available nowadays what with over 100 cultivated poinsettia varieties.

"Euphorbia pulcherrima" is the binomial, Latin or scientific name of poinsettias.

Specifically, the word "Euphorbia" honors the ancient physician who is first known to have discovered the medicinal uses of the poinsettia plant's milky sap. The word "pulcherrima" honors the great beauty of the plant's modified leaves. The scientific name may be expanded further by identifying which one of the more than 100 cultivated varities of poinsettia is the object of concern.