Before they wilt, I should credit this year’s crop of poinsettias as being among the best of the holiday flowers that we’ve had over the years. There are traditional red ones, as shown here, and more than 100 other varieties. One of the variegated ones is shown below:
There is some confusion about the plant’s name, Poinsettia. Don’t look for an interesting Latin or Greek origin. It’s just a derivation of Joel Roberts Poinsett’s last name. He was the first United States Minister to Mexico and a botanist during his off hours. In the early 19th Century, he found the plants in their native Mexico and began shipping them to the United States, where nurseries eventually popularized them for the Christmas season.
When the plants first came here, they were called “Mexican flame flowers.” (Their natural, non-manipulated color is deep red.) Giving them Joel’s last name made them intriguingly mysterious. However, there was confusion as to how to pronounce “poinsettia.” Its preferred pronunciation is “POYNE-seh-tee-YAH.” It’s best not to turn that two-syllable “tee-yah” into a one-syllable “tah.” (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 28, 2024.)