National Poinsettia Day Observed Monday
The Congress-appointed celebration of Poinsettia Day has arrived in the U.S. as the countdown to Christmas continues.
The national celebration takes place annually on Dec. 12 in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the botanist, physician, and Minister to Mexico who discovered the plant. In 1828, Poinsett introduced his home town of Charleston, S.C., to the plant with cuttings he had brought back from Mexico.
In July of 2002, Congress decided to pass a resolution honoring the poinsettia as Poinsett, who died Dec. 12, 1851.
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Poinsettias, or botanically known as Euphorbia Pulcherrima, earn the U.S. economy up to $250 million every year at whole sale level. The iconic Christmastime plant is the best-selling potted plant in the U.S. as well as Canada, earning it a national holiday title.
The Ecke family of Encinitas, Calif. had a virtual monopoly on the sales of the plant until the 1990’s.The family is considered the forerunners of the poinsettia industry because they discovered a technique to produce the most desirable poinsettias by grafting two varieties of the plant together. However, the method became public allowing competitors to flourish. The Ecke family no longer grows farms in the U.S. but as of 2008 they still controlled about 70 percent of the poinsettia market.
The Ecke’s strived to bolster the plant’s Christmas image as it is used as much in Mexico. Known as “Noche Buena” or Christmas Eve in Mexico and Guatemala, the flower has been associated with Christmas since the 16th century. The star-shaped lead pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and the red color represents the blood sacrifice through the crucifixion of Jesus.
The plants are frequently found in homes, churches, offices, and elsewhere as Christmas décor across North America. They are available in grocery, drug, and hardware stores and can live for many years if well-cared for.
