Ponsettia Day

Posted on December 12, 2007 | Category: Christmas, Events, Flowers, History, Holiday

Today is Poinsettia day which was name after the man who brought the poinsettia plant back from Mexico, and began what would become the modern poinsettia industry in this country. Above is a picture of Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 - 1851); the man whom poinsettia day is named in honor of, and the first United States Ambassador to Mexico. Below is a picture of a the Poinsettia plant, which is also named in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett. Poinsett began going to Mexico under President James Monroe, by taking some time out from his Congressional duties in 1822; he was subsequently appointed as United States Ambassador by John Quincy Adam in the 1820’s ,after Andrew Jackson turned down the post. Well, he was technically appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, but the title changed in 1898 to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He eventually would be pulled out of Mexico by President Andrew Jackson at the request of Mexican President Guerrero in 1829.[1] The anniversary of his death was established by act of congress more than 150 years ago as National Poinsettia Day. More recently, House resolution (#471) passed in 2002 to recognized Mr. Poinsett’s grandson (Paul Ecke,Jr.), who owned and developed the Ecke Ranch which has produced valuable genetic work which has been licensed to many growers, and is responsible for more than 80 percent of the poinsettia market. The ranch is now owned by Paul Ecke III, who carries on the legacy left by Joel Roberts Poinsett.

Poinsettias (botanical name: Euphorbia pulcherrima-meaning very beautiful) are topical plants native to Mexico that can grow up to ten feet talk and are native to Mexico and other Central and South American countries. Accordingly, they are known in Chile and Peru the poinsettia as the Crown of the Andes. They were used at least as far by as the 14th - 16th century. During this time people used the sap to control fevers, and other healing purposes; this would make sense, since the milky sap of a flower contains the proteins which protect the flower against disease. They also used the bracts (modified leaves) to make a reddish dye. The red bracts are not actually the flower part; the flower is the little yellow pollen center in the middle of the plant. The brackets can interestingly only bloom after a prolonged period of near-darkness, if the plant is not kept in darkness about 12 hours a day during a period of a couple of months the red brackets will not develop. The Aztecs called the poinsettia “Cuetlaxochitl” which is means ìmortal flower that perishes and withers like all that is pureî. Although, it would seem poinsettias are a fever remedy and there have been some other medical benefits associated with the Poinsettia by these ancient cultures, there still persist in some circles a myth that are poisonous. Apparently, the milky sap of the poinsettia like the milky saps of many similar plants can sometimes be a skin and eye irate, which is the source of the myth, that poinsettias are poisonous. There has in recent times been some debate over whether ingesting of Poinsettias is poisonous, and the conclusion is that it is generally not. The reason the plant received a reputation for being poisonous is, because in 1919 a 2-year old boy died in Hawaii and the cause was mistakenly attributed to poinsettia ingestion.[2] However, a study at Ohio State University found the poinsettia to be harmless in rats even at real high dose, and another study by the Journal of Emergency Medicine found that in 92% of 22,703 cases reported to poison control centers there were no signs of sickness, although 93% of those cases involved children who would potentially be more susceptible to poisoning. Nonetheless, the milky sap which is like latex similar to saps in other plants which we know is not safe, can cause serious gastrointestinal pain, and tastes quite bitter. This leads us to wonder whether the reason most were not poisoned is because it tasted so bad they spit it out right away. Also rats are certainly able to tolerate things humans cannot so it is not entirely clear whether the bitterness keeps children from eating too much or it is really safe to ingest in large amounts. So, ingesting any part of the plant is generally not a good idea and if a lot is eaten it will likely cause some gastrointestinal discomfort.

Reference

[2]O’CONNOR, A. (2006 , December 19). The Claim: Poinsettias Can Be Poisonous. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/health/19real.html?_r=1&oref=sloginPaul Ecke Ranch. (n.d.). The history of the poinsettia. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from Paul Ecke Ranch: http://www.ecke.com/HTML/h_corp/corp_joelp.html[1] William M. Taylor Chapter of the Philalethes Society in Houston, Texas . (2007, July 08). JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from The Masonic Trowel: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/masonic_talk/stb/stbs/84-12.htmWolford, R. (2007). Poinsettia History and Lore. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from University of Illinois Extension The Poinsettia Pages: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/history.html

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