Poinsettia Plant Lucky Plant For Christmas....!!!

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(Free-Press-Release.com) November 19, 2009 -- History & Legends of Poinsettia

Poinsettias were first introduced in the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett.
One of the most delightful decorations at Christmas is the poinsettia. The usual color choice is the deep, vibrant red. However, there is a wide array of other colors, including pink, white, marbled, speckled and yellow. The colorful parts of the poinsettia, the bracts, are actually modified leaves. The poinsettia flower is small, green or yellow and situated in the middle of the bracts.

The connection for the poinsettia is linked to the plant's Mexican origin. First discovered by the early Aztecs, the poinsettia has long been associated as an Indian symbol of purity. When the Spanish conquistadors conquered Mexico and converted the Aztecs to Christianity, the power of the poinsettia was also transformed.

The poinsettia is a native plant of Mexico and originated in a rather limited region near present day Taxco. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the Aztecs of central Mexico cultivated the plant and called it Cuetlaxochitl. Because of its brilliant color, the poinsettia was a symbol of purity to the Indians. It was highly prized by both King Netzahualcoyotl and Montezuma, but because of the high altitude climate, the plant could not be grown in their capital, now known as Mexico City. The Indians used poinsettia bracts to make a reddish-purple dye. They also made a medicine for fever from the plant’s latex.

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 miraculously, the green top leaves turned into bright red petals, and soon the manger was surrounded by beautiful star-like flowers and so we see them today.

The Legend

The legend of the poinsettia comes from Mexico. It 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.
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When in Africa, poinsettia bushes were planted along roads, but they only blossomed on roads that had no street lights.

Somehow this plant, which is just a straggly bush in its native tropics, has been improved, inbred, subjected to all miracles of modern horticultural science, and like a butterfly, has emerged

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