There is a beautiful flower native to Mexico where a legend is told on it’s behalf. The story is of a poor girl named Maria and her little brother, Pablo. The two loved the annual Mexican Christmas festival with its large manger scene, but each year were disappointed that they had no money to buy a gift for the baby Jesus. One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo stopped on their way to the church to pick some weeds growing along the roadside to give to the baby Jesus. The other children laughed at them for their gift, but Maria and Pablo knew their gift was from the heart. As they began to place their plants around the manger, the green-top leaves miraculously turned into bright red petals. Soon the manger was surrounded by beautiful star-shaped flowers and became known as Flores de Noche Buena - Flowers of the Holy Night - the first Poinsettias. This beautiful legend accompanying the plant was introduced to the United States by Dr. J.R. Poinsett who was the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1825-1829 who was also a keen botanist and gardener. It is from him that we get the Americanized name of the plant. Poinsettias are amazing plants! You have probably guessed by now that if I am writing an article about them then they probably have some healing properties to them but did you know that Poinsettias represent over 85 percent of the potted plant sales during the holiday season? And that $220 million worth of poinsettias are sold during a 6 week period from November to December?! In fact, it is such a popular plant that December 12 is National Poinsettia day! And there is even an NCCA Bowl game in San Diego named the Poinsettia Bowl! That probably makes it one of the most recognized and popular herbs in the world despite the lack of knowledge of it’s medicinal properties. So what are it’s medicinalproperties you may ask? Well the leaves are commonly used in Mexico as a cathartic (an agent used to purge the bowels, a mild laxative) and an emetic (an agent used to induce vomiting) and a tea made of the small, barely there, yellow flowers found in the center of the leaves (1Tbsp of fresh flowers or 1 tsp of dried to 1 cup of water) will promote the secretion of milk in lactating women. The flowers bloom during the shortest days of the year right around Christmas. Another rather unique medicinal trait comes from the plants milky sap. It contains chemicals capable of temporarily removing unwanted hair. However some people can be mildly allergic to this sap and it may produce a slight rash or reddening of the skin so try it in a small area first. Many people believe that poinsettia’s are poisonous to children and pets however this is incorrect. In the 1970’s Ohio State University conducted a study on rats. They fed 160 rats large amounts of the plant in order to establish the plants oral toxicity rate (the amount needed to induce death). The rats were fed up to 22.5 grams of the plant and no deaths occurred. That is the same as a 50-pound child eating 500-600 leaves! That is about 15 full sized plants! The most likely event to preclude ingesting that many leaves would be a tummy ache or if you are lucky, vomiting and I assure you that would be a welcome event after that many leaves! Besides isn’t that one of it’s medicinal properties anyway? Poinsettias truly are a Christmas plant for once the holiday season is over your beautiful red plant will go dormant and lose it’s leaves and that’s when most of them find their way to the trash can. Howeveryou can easily trim the branches and find a cool place to store it until the last frost is gone and then plant it in the ground or in a bigger pot and lengthen it’s herbal life! (It needs slightly acid soil anda protected location. Fertilize once a month for best color.) In return your plant will forever return the favor in offering you it’s medicinal healing powers. After all it’s your health!The Hurricane Valley Journal does not endorse any medical treatment or guarantee its effectiveness in treating medical conditions. Please consult your health care provider for questions regarding your health or before trying any medical treatment.
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