Poinsettia
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Botanical name: Euphorbia pulcherrima
Common Names: Poinsettia
These are familiar garden plants in South East Queensland, but are popular in other parts of the world as potted floral items, especially at Christmas. They normally flower during the short days of the Northern hemisphere winter. If you see poinsettias sold in flower at Christmas in Australia, they have been manipulated to flower at this time (our summer).
The poinsettia industry is huge in America, and you'll easily find information on the internet pertaining to greenhouse production of this crop. However, most SE Qld gardeners will grow them in the ground as easy shrubs which provide a splash of colour in the middle of our winter. More information on garden culture of Poinsettia to come to this page in the future.
The "flowers" are in fact the coloured bracts which surround the real, insignificant flowers. The most common bract colour is red but breeding has produced a huge range of forms and colours from red through pinks to cream and white.
Links
Brisbane's History Brisbane City Council (see note about the choice of the Poinsettia as Brisbane's floral emblem) (PDF)
The Wild Poinsettia Page information and images about wild poinsettia in Mexico. The Olson Lab, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
All About Poinsettias Backyard Gardener column, December 27, 2000. Arizona Cooperative Extension, University of Arizona
Possible Misspellings: Poinsetia, Ponsettia, pointsettia, Poincettia, Poincetia, Ponsetia, pointsetia
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