Friday, December 25, 2009

Poinsetta* (for Poinsettia*)

Here’s a little bit of Christmas trivia for today: The poinsettia, a potted plant often associated with Christmas in North America, actually originates from Mexico and Central America. There, the poinsettia bush actually grows up to three metres (ten feet) high!

The red “petals” are actually leaf-like bracts, with small yellow flowers in the middle. And poinsettias don’t just come in red—the bracts are also available in white, pink, mottled, and striped varieties, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Imagine giving a ten foot tall, striped poinsettia to your hostess for Christmas…I bet she’d be quite confused.

Leanne Olson

1 comment:

David Macaulay said...

particularly if it was a mauve striped one