TOGETHER with piped carols and tinsel, several weeks before Christmas poinsettia plants appear in shops and garden centres. Their botanical name is Euphorbia pulcherrima: ‘Euphorbia’ from Euphorbus, a Greek physician; ‘pulcherrima’ a Latin word meaning ‘most beautiful’. They are members of the Euphorbia genus of plants, otherwise known as spurges, all of which have milky, often poisonous sap. How did a plant with such credentials become embedded in the Christmas festive season?
Poinsettias are native to Central America, where they are found in sites ranging from moist valleys to dry, rocky hillsides. They have acquired a rare plant ability, namely to grow as either straggly shrubs or trees up to four metres tall, depending on where they are located. As daylight reduces, they begin to produce clusters of tiny flowers at the end of leggy branches, surrounded by
