The Poinsettia’s History Is One of Aztecs and Conquistadores Ken Spencer - Virginian-Pilot | |
go to original December 26, 2021 |
The poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is indigenous to Guatemala and Mexico, where it grows as a woody shrub that may reach 10 feet or more. In the 14th through 16th centuries, the Aztecs of Mexico called the plant Cuetlaxochitl. The word translates to “mortal flower that perishes and withers like all that is pure.” A token of purity, it was cultivated as a gift to the gods. The bright red, blood-colored bracts (the floral parts) were a symbol of the gods’ sacrifices while creating the universe. It was a debt owed, and would be repaid, by the Aztecs in human sacrifice.
Montezuma, last emperor of the Aztecs, had caravans of poinsettias brought from lower elevations, where they were cultivated, to adorn his palaces in Tenochtitlán, the ancient capital of the Aztec empire. The plant also had medicinal uses — the white sap was used to control fevers, and a poultice was prepared to restore circulation and cure infections. Bracts were used to concoct a reddish-purple dye for cosmetics and textiles.
After the Spanish conquest, Franciscan priests settled in Taxco de Alarcon, southwest of Mexico City, where the plant was abundant and bloomed in winter. The Franciscans used the stunning red flowers in the Fiesta of Santa Pesebre, a Nativity procession.
How did the poinsettia become so prominently associated with the Christmas holiday? An old Mexican legend offers an explanation that goes something like this. Once upon a time there was poor Mexican girl named Pepita who was sad that she had no gift to offer the baby Jesus at the town’s Christmas Eve service. Distraught, she stopped along a roadside, picked a handful of weeds and made a small bouquet. Entering the church, she was embarrassed that a small handful of weeds was the best she could offer. As she approached and knelt at the altar, her tears fell upon the small bouquet as she laid it at the base of the Nativity scene. And then, a Christmas miracle — the small bouquet of weeds burst into bright red flowers. From that day forward, the bright red flowers of the poinsettia were known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night.
In Mexico, the poinsettia is displayed around Dia de la Virgen on Dec. 12. Coincidentally, in the United States, this is Poinsettia Day. It commemorates the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, on that date in 1851. While visiting the city of Taxco, the amateur botanist was so taken by the red-blooming plant that he made cuttings and sent them back to his summer home in Greenville, South Carolina. From there, he propagated and shared these with friends and botanical gardens. They later reached Robert Buist, a Philadelphia nurseryman/seedsman, who is credited with being to first to sell the plant to the public in 1833.
Later, as U.S. secretary of war in 1838, Poinsett directed the United States Exploring Expedition, a major surveying and exploration project. He insisted that the expedition include scientists and that they collect all manner of geological, botanical and anthropological specimens. These artifacts, or “scientifics,” were brought back to the nation’s capital and placed on special exhibit at the United States Patent Office building (now home to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and its American Art Museum).
Poinsett was a founding member of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, formed in 1840 to promote natural history and the physical sciences. In 1838, the U.S. Treasury had secured a bequest of $500,000 (more than $15 million in today’s dollars) from James Smithson, an English chemist and mineralogist. This windfall spurred much debate in Washington about how such an enormous sum should be best spent. Secretary Poinsett was the first to propose and argue that it should be committed to creating a national museum for the sciences. And so it was.
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