Part eight of a series on the history and traditions Christmas.
When the heavy snow falls, and the air is cold and dark, the plants that come to mind are not delicate like lilies and roses. Instead, like the mums of fall, the poinsettia, with its hearty composition and heavy leaves, live on in our minds as the perfect Christmas flower.
When you think of winter flowers, not many variations come to mind. After all, flowers are more of a spring thing. This is probably why the traditional Christmas flower is not pastel, but instead a rich red color that is deep and muted, like winter itself. During the holiday season, you are likely to see this Christmas flower everywhere you go, from fake displays in department store windows to real ones scattered throughout people’s homes. This plant with its brilliant red flowers is the ultimate Christmas foliage. There are now also hybrid poinsettias that come in white. This color is not traditionally thought of as a Christmas flower, but looks nice when you have a large display of poinsettias and want to mix some different colored blooms in with the usual red.
Unlike most of our modern American holiday traditions which originate from European customs, the popular practice of displaying poinsettias around our homes comes from our neighbor to the south, Mexico. This tradition started with botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett. In 1825, Joel Poinsett was appointed to the prestigious title of the United States Ambassador to Mexico. On one of his journeys to Mexico, he discovered the vibrantly red flower. He immediately fell in love with it and shipped some of them back to his home in Greenville, South Carolina. After a short time of cultivating the flowers inside his hothouses, he began sending them to his friends and family as a Christmas gift.
Now, we display them within our own homes. And you can purchase them from any greenhouse or corner shop.
The poinsettia has a rich history and association with Christmas in Mexican culture. Some see the plants as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem. There is another story says that a young boy was going to see the Nativity Play at a church but realized he didn't have a gift for Baby Jesus. The boy gathered some green branches, which others scoffed at. But as he placed them near the manger, a bright red poinsettia flower started to bloom on each branch, which gave rise to their traditional use at Christmas.
However, there is one thing you should make note of before bringing this beauty into your own home. The problem with poinsettias is that they can be toxic if ingested by people and animals. And while most adults don’t go around eating plants, pets and children are especially susceptible to this hazard because they are naturally curious about the world. But because the poinsettia is a Christmas flower, putting it outside, away from the people and animals in your home who might be tempted to ingest it is not an option. If you have small children and pets, it is probably best to go with an artificial poinsettia plant or just not have them in your home at all.
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