On National Poinsettia Day we"re taking an up-close look at a poinsettia leaf. Although many people assume the red, white, pink, purple, or marbled colors are flowers, they"re actually bracts, a type of leaf that aids in reproduction, usually by turning color as the plant develops true flowers. On the poinsettia, the bracts, surrounding small yellow clustered buds called cyathia, flag down pollinators just as flower petals do.
What are we looking at?
Today in History
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Happy Diwali!
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Mount Rainier National Park
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A field of English lavender
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Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank
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Darwin s Arch
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The borrowed days are here
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Pearl Harbor Day
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Let s crack the code
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Crescent-tail bigeye fish, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
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Bernina Pass, Graubünden, Switzerland
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A red knot on the Shetland Islands, Scotland
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Behold the perfect cone
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Juneteenth
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From the mind of Frank Gehry
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Burrowing owls
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From Sputnik to extraterrestrial storms
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Once upon a time there was a bridge…
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An island hopper s paradise
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International Day for Biosphere Reserves
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The mighty, mighty mushroom
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Kirkilai lakes, Biržai Regional Park, Lithuania
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National Lighthouse Day
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World Donkey Day
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Meandering through Patagonia
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Take the stairs
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Eurasian red squirrel in Northumberland, England
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Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon
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Llama Day
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Heavens Gate Cave, Tianmen Mountain National Park, China
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Palouse farmland, Washington state
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