The poinsettia is named for Joel Poinsette who was America's first ambassador to Mexico. Besides having been Secretary of War and other significant political positions he held in the U.S. Government, he organized the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, later named the National institute. This organization attempted to win control over James Smithson's $508,318.46 gift to the United States in Washington for an establishment for the increase and diffusion of kowledge among men. In today's money the gift would amount to far over 4 billion dollars! One can easily see why congressmen's amorphous debates over the use of the money continued for 10 years.
Former President John Quincy Adams feared that the bequest Will be squandered on cormorants or wasted in electioneering bribery. There's nothing new under the sun, King Solomon wrote.
It was the historian and horticulturist William Prescott who named the plant after Joel Poinsette.
The red tops are specialized bracts, not flowers.
Mexicans of the 18th century believed that the Poinsettia was symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem. Because of this the flower became associated with the Christmas season.
Aztecs in Mexico and Meso-America had cultivated the poinsettia for hundreds of years prior to the conquest of the Spanish. They used the sap to cure fevers and used the red bracts to manufacture dye.
The writer has heard the name pronounced many ways: pointsett, pointsetter, pohnsetta, and, properly, pointsettia with the "ia" fully pronounced.
Former President John Quincy Adams feared that the bequest Will be squandered on cormorants or wasted in electioneering bribery. There's nothing new under the sun, King Solomon wrote.
It was the historian and horticulturist William Prescott who named the plant after Joel Poinsette.
The red tops are specialized bracts, not flowers.
Mexicans of the 18th century believed that the Poinsettia was symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem. Because of this the flower became associated with the Christmas season.
Aztecs in Mexico and Meso-America had cultivated the poinsettia for hundreds of years prior to the conquest of the Spanish. They used the sap to cure fevers and used the red bracts to manufacture dye.
The writer has heard the name pronounced many ways: pointsett, pointsetter, pohnsetta, and, properly, pointsettia with the "ia" fully pronounced.
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