Why is there a Love and Attraction for Poinsettias?

The Poinsettia, for me, symbolizes all that’s good, It connotates joy, beauty, peace, friendship and love. This plant goes with the holidays just as much as the Christmas tree.

A Plant Blessed by God

The poinsettia is blessed by God and people sense it’s wonder. Cecil Murphey writes about a woman suffering from financial strife asking God for a poinsettia. Her prayers are answered, a religion student gives her husband a poinsettia as a gift. When his wife sees the gift, she says, “This is a gift straight from the hands of God for me. I prayed for a poinsettia, and God answered!”

The following year she decides to forego the live poinsettia since her financial situation still is not in a good place. Instead she uses artificial pieces she has from prior years to decorate. God has other plans in mind, he sends her friends with gifts, a red and white poinsettia.

Each subsequent year, this woman receives a poinsettia from someone. Her prays are answered by God, he knows she understands his message, he is there for her.

History of the Poinsettia

What twist of fate elevated this pretty plant to a place of honor especially during the holidays? In order to answer this question, we need to step back in history.

The Aztecs call this plant, Cuitlaxochitl, star flower. The Aztecs believed red symbolized purity. They used the red plant tops of the poinsettia flower as a dye for skin and clothing. This star flower was also used as a natural medicine. The Cuitlaxochitl symbolized purity.
The poinsettia plant originally came from Mexico and Guatemala. In these climates, the plant could grow 15 feet tall. Although the plant traditionally blooms from October through December, this plant continues to live year round.
In the early 1800s, the US ambassador to Mexico, amateur botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett, sent the plant home to Greenville, South Carolina, USA to be cultivated. Colonel Robert Carr and Paul Ecke from California promoted the poinsettia and positioned it to be the Christmas flower.

Today the poinsettia symbolizes joy, love, purity and hope among other things to so many. How though did this plant go from a marketed Christmas plant to a cherished plant during the holidays? I believe it has to do with the Mexican poinsettia legend.

The Legend of the Poinsetta

There are different versions of the legend, some say this legend is about a little boy while others say it was about a girl. I’m going to tell you the story as retold by Tomie dePaola in his children’s book, The Legend of the Poinsetta. This is a story my girls have enjoyed over the years. Maybe this is another reason why the poinsettia symbolizes such joy and love for me.

Lucida, a young girl, and her mom are weaving a Christmas blanket to be placed over Jesus during the Christmas festival. This is their family’s gift to Jesus. Lucida’s mom gets sick before the festival and is in the hospital. Lucida and her siblings stay with a friend since her father must remain at the hospital.

Hearing the others speak about the blanket for Jesus not being finished, Lucida tries to complete the weaving on her own but ends up tangling the threads. They can’t be untangled in time. The friend tells Lucida not to worry, they will go to the festival together and place a gift before Jesus.

The night of the festival Lucida hides, she has no gift. An old woman appears and tells Lucida her mom will be well. She can go into the church. She explains, she has no gift for Jesus. The old woman tell Lucida whatever you give Jesus, he will love.

Lucida looks around, picks an armful of weeds and takes them to Jesus. She then closes her eyes and prayed. A hush fell over the church, the weeds turned into flaming red stars and the manger glowed as if lit by a hundred candles. As they left the church, they see all the tall weeds turned to flaming red stars.

Now every Christmas, the red stars appear on top of all the green branches in Mexico. In Mexico, the poinsettia is called la Flor de Nochebuena, the Flower of the Holy Night or flor de fuego, the fire flower.