© Tara A. Spears

One of the ubiquitous signs of the Christmas season is the vivid scarlet of the poinsettia plants that appear in malls, churches, homes and offices in December. Its shape appears in tablecloths and wrapping paper, silk flowers, and seasonal jewelry. This indigenous Mexican plant quickly garnered world-wide popularity and comes with a charming legend that explains how the poinsettia came to be a symbol of Christmas spirit.

The legend of the poinsettia tells of a girl named Maria and her little brother Pablo. They were very poor but always looked forward to the Christmas festival. Each year a large manger scene was set up in the village church, and the days before Christmas were filled with parades and parties. The two children loved Christmas, but were always saddened because they had no money to buy presents. They especially wished that they could give something to the church for the Baby Jesus. But they had nothing.
One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo set out for church to attend the service. On their way they picked some weeds growing along the roadside and decided to take them as their gift to the Baby Jesus in the manger scene. Of course they were teased by other children when they arrived with their gift, but they said nothing for they knew they had given what they could. Maria and Pablo began placing the green plants around the manger and suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into blooms of brilliant red, and all who saw them were certain that they had witnessed a Christmas miracle right before their eyes. From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night, for they bloomed each year during the Christmas season.

Poinsettias were introduced into the United States in 1825 by Joel Robert Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico and a horticulturist who started cultivating the stunning plant. Over the intervening years, poinsettias have been hybridized to include a range of colors from salmon to white to bi-colored that have become traditional Christmas decorations throughout the world. In any region that does not have winter frost temperatures, the poinsettia plant will become a perennial shrub whether kept in a pot or planted in the ground. However, it is difficult to grow in the sweltering coastal Riviera Nayarit area due to the high night temperatures. The plant is readily available at the tianguis Monday and Thursday markets, local plant nurseries, and from street vendors.