Poinsettias are plants native to Central America and in particular an area of southern Mexico known as Taxco del Arcon.
The Aztec used to use them to make dye for clothes and their sap for treating fevers.
In
1825, the US Ambassador to Mexico saw the plants and became interested
in them. He sent some back to Carolina, USA, and began growing them and
sending them to friends. His name Joel Roberst Poinsett!
But why are poinsettias and Christmas linked together?