Dress up your home and garden with Flor de Nochebuena (Christmas Eve flower), the ubiquitous holiday blossom English-speaking folks call the poinsettia.
It’s a native Mexican species introduced to the rest of the world by Dr. Joel R. Poinsett, who became enchanted with the plant while serving as U.S. ambassador to Mexico in the 1820s.
In case you missed it, Mexico just marked December 8 as the Día Nacional de la La Nochebuena, something to celebrate and lift spirits in troubled times.
Known to the Aztecs as cuitlaxochitl (star flower) or cuetlaxóchitl (flower that withers), the scarlet bracts that surround tiny yellow florets were used for medicinal purposes by pre-Hispanic tribes as a treatment for skin infections and circulatory ailments.
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