Flowers of the Holy Night

Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, an amateur botanist and first United States ambassador to Mexico, introduced the plant that became known as the poinsettia to the United States in 1828.  A native of southern Mexico, the poinsettia blooms in December and has been used in that country to decorate churches for centuries. Many consider the red color a symbol of purity, and so poinsettias were traditionally part of religious ceremonies.