Poinsettia Day Dec 12, 2023

Poinsettia Day

During the holiday season, poinsettias brighten up homes in suitably festive coloring, serving as symbols of goodwill. December 12 marks National Poinsettia Day, a special occasion to celebrate this holiday favorite. The plant was introduced to the US by Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and former minister to Mexico who died on this day in 1851. Poinsettias can be found growing in the wild from Mexico to Guatemala. The ancestors of the modern, commercially available version have been traced to the Mexican state of Guerrero. The crimson-leaved plant was used by the Aztecs as a red dye and as a fever-reducing medicine.

© Yarygin/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Dec 12, 2018The story of the poinsettia
Dec 12, 2019On the lookout for Sheep-Cote Clod
Dec 12, 2020What are we looking at?
Dec 12, 2021Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
Dec 12, 2022Poinsettia Day
Dec 12, 2024Poinsettia Day
Dec 12, 2025National Poinsettia Day

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jun 22, 2019Reflections on the mighty Amazon
Feb 23, 2018Aerial view of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico
Aug 29, 2019Greetings from Asbury Park
Aug 14, 2025Cable car station, Graubünden, Switzerland
Oct 8, 2019Let s celebrate cephalopods
Apr 9, 2024Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Jul 7, 2022Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon
Aug 21, 2021Ambassadors of the airwaves
Sep 20, 2023Aqueduct, Arkadia Park, Poland
Nov 21, 2021The Great Glen
Nov 10, 2024Caribbean flamingos, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Aug 19, 2024National Aviation Day
Jan 14, 2025Village of Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, Spain
Jan 29, 2019A winter’s holiday ends
Jan 13, 2019On the hunt
Apr 10, 2020Brotherly cubs
Jan 28, 2022Short-eared owl
Aug 24, 2023Shark Fin Cove, California
Dec 10, 2018Feeling crabby?
Dec 4, 2019Protecting endangered giants
Sep 26, 2018Art in the chapel
Feb 4, 2019Sitting down and taking a stand
Jan 18, 2020Sands of time
May 16, 2023American Wetlands Month
Oct 10, 2025Visiting the Mamanuca Islands for Fiji Day
Jan 23, 2024Atolls in the Maldives
May 30, 2023Playa del Amor, Marietas Islands, Mexico
Apr 1, 2025National Frog Month
Aug 20, 2022World Honey Bee Day
Dec 13, 2018Iceland awaits the Yule Lads