The poinsettia was named for Joel Robert Poinsett, an amateur
botanist and the first United States ambassador to Mexico. He
became fascinated with these native plants and sent poinsettias
home to Greenville, S. C., in 1825. Although Poinsett later was
war secretary under President Martin Van Buren, he is better
known for the plant named after him. The Aztecs cultivated
poinsettias for medicinal purposes and as a dye. Missionaries to
Mexico used the brightly colored plants in nativity processions,
possibly beginning the holiday connection that continues today.
Poinsettias are the most popular potted plant grown in the
United States, with annual sales exceeding 70 million plants. In
Kentucky, some tobacco greenhouse operators have learned how to
grow poinsettias. More than 60 varieties and 500,000 plants are
grown and sold in Kentucky each year. The three to six bloom red
poinsettia is the most frequently used, but several other sizes,
shapes and colors are available. Colors range from creamy white
to yellow th