Poinsettia Description
Most people are familiar with poinsettias as a relatively small potted plant most often used as a Christmas plant or decoration.
Poinsettia plants have brightly colored leaves (bracts) that are often mistaken for flowers. The poinsettia true flowers are small yellow or green structures at the base of the bracts.
This photo shows the red leaves and the yellow true flowers of the poinsettia. Image by Old Shoe Woman. |
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This familiar form of poinsettias are due to careful breeding, cultivation and harvesting. In the wild, poinsettias are a shrub or small tree. Poinsettias are originally from Mexico and Central America.
A poinsettia tree in a San Diego back yard. Image by Martin LaBar |
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poinsettias are shrubs to small trees, typically reaching a height of 0.6 to 4 m (2 to 16 ft). The plant bears dark green dentate leaves that measure 7 to 16 cm (3 to 6 in) in length. The top leaves, known as bracts, are flaming red, pink, or white and are often mistaken as flowers. The actual flowers are the small yellow structures found in the center of each leaf bunch, which are called Cyathia.
Cultivars have been produced with orange, pale green, cream and marbled leaves.
There are over 100 varieties of poinsettias available, but 74% of Americans still prefer red poinsettias, 8% prefer white, and 6% prefer pink (The Poinsettia Pages, University of Illinois Extension).




