Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a spurge-family shrub famous for its bright red bracts used as Christmas flowers; native to Mexico and Central America, with tiny yellow true flowers and milky sap.
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Poinsettia — Christmas potted plant (product)Poinsettia — plant with red bracts
Poinsettia — young leaves
Poinsettia — close-up of red bracts
Poinsettia — cluster of true flowers (cyathia)
Poinsettia — yellow and red bract cultivarPoinsettia — Christmas potted plant (product)Poinsettia — plant with red bractsOverview
The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), also called Christmas flower, is a commercially important flowering plant of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1834. It is a shrub or small tree 0.6–4 m tall with stems filled with milky white latex. The leaves are spirally arranged, dark green, oval to oblong with shallowly toothed margins. In the flowering season (short days), the upper bracts turn brilliant red — cultivars may be pink, white, yellow or marbled — forming the characteristic 'flower', while the true flowers are tiny yellow cyathia clustered at the centre. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule.
Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/11/2026
The poinsettia is native to Mexico and Central America, growing on mid-elevation, Pacific-facing slopes; a population in the Mexican state of Guerrero is thought to be the ancestor of most cultivated forms. The Aztecs grew it for medicine and red dye, and the English name 'poinsettia' honours Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who introduced it to the US in the 1820s. Today it is one of the world's most important potted plants, associated with Christmas and produced mainly in the United States and Europe. Although reputed to be highly toxic, it is in fact not dangerous: eating it usually causes no effect, only occasionally nausea, while the milky sap can irritate skin and eyes.
Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/11/2026
Life cycle
From seed to productPlant
Evergreen shrub/small tree 0.6–4 m tall with milky white latex.
Leaves
Spirally arranged dark-green leaves with shallowly toothed margins.
Flower (bracts)
The upper bracts turn brilliant red, forming the Christmas 'flower'.
True flowers (cyathia)
True flowers are tiny yellow cyathia clustered at the centre of the bracts.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Mexico (native, wild populations)30%
- Central America & Guatemala (native)15%
- United States & Canada (cultivated)20%
- Europe (cultivated)15%
- East & Southeast Asia incl. Vietnam (cultivated)20%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- Water68%
- Latex (milky sap)Irritates skin/eyes15%
- Flavonoids8%
- Bract pigments (anthocyanin/carotenoid)Give red/pink/yellow colour5%
- Triterpenoids2%
- Protein & minerals2%
Uses
- Christmas ornamental: a symbol of the holiday, tens of millions of pots sold worldwide each year; most commercial plants are grown from cuttings with photoperiod control so the red bracts appear in time for the season
- Landscape plant: grown in tropical and subtropical gardens and parks, forming bushes up to 4 m tall; bracts come in many colours (red, pink, white, yellow, marbled)
- Folk medicine & dye: the Aztecs used the milky sap against fever and the bracts as a red dye; the Nahuatl name is cuetlaxochitl
- Safety: the milky sap irritates skin and eyes; though reputed 'toxic', eating it is usually harmless (sometimes nausea) — keep young children and pets from chewing the plant
Properties
- Form
- Evergreen shrub/small tree with milky latex
- Product
- Christmas potted plant; ornamental
- Hallmark
- Brilliant red bracts form the 'flower'; true flowers are tiny yellow cyathia
- Uses
- Ornamental (Christmas), folk medicine & dye (Aztec)
Habitat & conservation
The poinsettia prefers sun to part shade and moist but well-drained soil in a warm to subtropical climate. It is native to Mexico and Central America, growing on mid-elevation, Pacific-facing slopes; wild populations are fragmented by deforestation. It is now grown worldwide as a Christmas plant.
Conservation
The poinsettia is native to Mexico–Guatemala; wild populations are highly fragmented and threatened by largely unregulated deforestation, but thanks to worldwide commercial cultivation the species is not globally threatened — classified Least Concern (LC). Euphorbiaceae, genus Euphorbia.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch — Kew Science, 2026
- 2Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) — description, bracts, cyathia, cultivation, toxicity — English Wikipedia, 2026
- 3Trạng nguyên (cây) — đặc điểm, nguồn gốc, công dụng — Vietnamese Wikipedia, 2026
- 4一品红 Euphorbia pulcherrima — 形態、苞片與用途 — Chinese Wikipedia, 2026
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Sankar 1995 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Trio3D (CC BY-SA 4.0); ajay_suresh (CC BY 2.0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Meneerke bloem (CC BY-SA 4.0); Carlos Valenzuela (CC BY-SA 4.0); Laurent Bélanger (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Wikimedia Commons,