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Poinsett and Poinsettia: A History of Christmas Flower
The article traces Joel Poinsett’s role in bringing the Mexican red poinsettia to the United States and Europe. It covers Poinsett’s diverse career as diplomat, botanist and statesman, his mission to Mexico, the plant’s naming by popular usage, and how nurserymen in Charleston and Encinitas helped popularize it as a Christmas symbol. It notes care tips and propagation details, and summarizes Poinsett’s later life and death in South Carolina.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Poinsettia
Mexico
Central American
United States
Joel Poinsett
South Carolina
Connecticut
England
Scotland
Portugal
Benjamin Franklin
Poinsett
British Military Academy
Woolwich
Europe
Asia
James Madison
South
America
Spain
Madison
Congress
James Monroe
Augustin Iturbe
Iturbe
Mexico City
Central America
Cortez
Alaska
Hawaii
Henry Perrine
New Philosophical Journal
Edinburgh
Willdenow
Charleston
Buist
Philadelphia
Albert Ecke
California
Encinitas
San Diego
South Carolin
Jackson
John C. Calhoun
Acdemy of Fine Arts