8 Facts About Everyone’s Favorite Christmas Eve Flower

There is no other flower that says Christmas quite like the Poinsettia. This traditional holiday plant can be seen decorating religious places of worship, homes, and commercial spaces over December. All over the world, Poinsettia remains to be the one and only Christmas flower. But did you know that the showy red flower-like form of a Poinsettia isn’t a flower? Those are colored bracts or modified leaves to be exact.

Let’s get to know this Mexican native a bit more through ten exciting facts that will surprise you.

• The vivid, bright, and fancy red “flowers” that you see are Poinsettia’s colored bracts. Its flower is, in fact, the one you see at its center; yes, those tiny, berry-like buds. Poinsettias have actual foliage leaves like all other plants. Poinsettias’ true leaves are green. The modified leaves or bracts are the specialized leaves you see above the true leaves and below the actual flower. Bracts look like petals, or showier leaves, so that they attract pollinators.

• Scientifically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima, the popular Poinsettias have been known by several names. It’s called Flor de Nochebuena in Mexico and Flor de Pascua in Spain and Puerto Rico.  In Italy, it’s also referred to as Christmas Stars or Stella di Natale. In Chile and Peru, this plant is known as Crown of the Andes. Other known names for Poinsettia are Lobster Flower, Painted Leaf, Papagallo, Pastora, Pascuero, Flor de Navidad, Estrella Federal, Fleur Pentecôte, and Étoile de Noël. 

• Poinsettias received their common name from Joel Roberts Poinsett who introduced the plant in the United States in 1828. Given that the plant’s name is taken after a person, the word Poinsettia is traditionally capitalized.

• December 12^th is the National Poinsettia Day in the U.S. It marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett in 1851. In Mexico, December 12^th is the Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe where Poinsettias are displayed to honor the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Mexican people during the 1500s.

• There are over a hundred Poinsettia varieties available. And no, they don’t just come in red or white. There are Poinsettias in yellow, salmon, pink, purple, and multi-colors. The red Poinsettia, however, still dominates over the other hues.

• You’ll know a good quality poinsettia by looking at its flower. That central cluster of little buds should be tightly closed and green or red-tipped. If you get one with yellow pollen showing, your poinsettia won’t “hold” as nice as those that haven’t shed pollen yet. 

• Poinsettias need darkness to grow color. Give them a bit of time in a dark closet and watch those green bracts transform into brilliant red. The Poinsettia plant is an obligate short-day plant where it requires a minimum number of continuous long nights (or short days) before they flower. They won’t turn pretty in one long night, though. About 14 consecutive long nights are necessary to trigger the transformation. 

• Did you know that about 17 million Poinsettias are grown in Italy and a large percentage are from the Latina province in the Lazio region? In entire Europe, approximately 110 million Poinsettias are produced each year. This beautiful plant with scarlet bracts is also grown commercially in every state in the United States with California as the top producer.