poinsettia
UK /ˌpɔɪnˈsɛ.tɪə/ · US /ˌpɔɪnˈsɛ.t(i)ə/ noun
Forms poinsettias
- noun A plant, Euphorbia pulcherrima, with rather small and insignificant flowers surrounded by large bright red leaves; native to Mexico and Central America and widely cultivated as a garden plant; widely used in Christmas floral displays.
Synonyms
Christmas star Mexican flame leaf Christmas flower lobster plant Mexican flameleaf painted leaf Euphorbia pulcherrima
Etymology
After the obsolete genus name Poinsettia, named after Joel Roberts Poinsett (19th-century US minister to Mexico); equivalent to Poinsett + -ia.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A Mexican shrub (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with very large and conspicuous vermilion bracts below the yellowish flowers.
Etymology [NL. Named after Joel R. Poinsett of South Carolina.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “poinsettia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details