1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,319 Speaker 1: Lauren Volbom Here. The poinsettia is the plant equivalent of 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You. You 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: perhaps don't even remember it exists until the first day 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: you walk into a store in November, and suddenly it 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: is the holiday season. You're positively bombarded with it until January, 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: at which point both disappear again for another ten months, 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: making you wonder what they get up to while they're 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: laying in wait. But just like Mariah's popular Christmas bop, 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: point setias are economically important. They're the highest selling potted 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: plant in the world during the holiday shopping season the 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: six weeks leading up to Christmas. Some seventy million point 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: setia is worth some two hundred and fifty million dollars 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: are sold in the United States alone, and they're about 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: twice as popular in Europe. Point Setias were cultivated by 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: peoples within the Triple Alliance of what's now Central Mexico. 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: That is, the empire of three main city states now 18 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: often called the Aztec Empire, though that name was applied 19 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 1: retroactively and a little confusingly. The flowers didn't actually grow 20 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: in the capital city of pinoch Titlan and now Mexico City, 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: but reportedly Triple Alliance rulers imported thousands of plants every 22 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: winter from warmer lower elevations for use as an ornamental, 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: and also used different extracts from the plant as medicine 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: and as a reddish purple fabric dye. In these centuries 25 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: since it's been called the lobster flower, the flame leaf flower, 26 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: the Star of Love, and the flower of the Holy Night. 27 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 1: A butt Poinsettia is probably the weirdest name of all, 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: because it's just a shout out to the American diplomat 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: who's credited with being the first to bring them back 30 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: to the US from Mexico in the eighteen hundreds. Joel 31 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: Roberts Pointset was the first US minister to Mexico, and 32 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: as an amateur botanist, is said to have sent some 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: cuttings back to his home in South Carolina from southern 34 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: Mexican go in eighteen twenty eight. Though there's no irrefutable 35 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: proof of this, what is known is that the plant 36 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: was on display in Philadelphia in eighteen twenty nine. Associated 37 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: with Poinsett's name, it was an immediate hit and was 38 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: henceforth known as the poinsettia in the English speaking United 39 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: States and parts of Europe. A note that pointsett was 40 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: not well liked in Mexico. The term points at tismo 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: is sometimes still used there today to describe an arrogant 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: person who oversteps their authority at any rate. In the 43 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, the Eki family of southern California started farming poinsettias, 44 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: and they tirelessly pushed them as a symbol of the 45 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: Christmas season. Today, around seventy percent of the point Setia 46 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: plants you buy in the United States come from the 47 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: Eki ranch, and point Setia care is their lifeblood, although 48 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: many of us only encounter these plants in a potted 49 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: and possibly disposable form in December of Poinsettias are a 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: perennial winter flowering shrub with milky sap and branches so 51 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: long that they sometimes look like vines. In the mid 52 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: elevation regions of Mexico and Central America where they're from, 53 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,119 Speaker 1: or gardens where they're successfully grown, they can reach over 54 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: ten feet or three meters tall and will die down 55 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: but come back every year. The big, showy red or 56 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: white or pink flowers that we're used to seeing aren't 57 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: actually the poinsettia's flowers at all, but modified leaves called bracts. 58 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: The actual flowers are those small yellow buds in the 59 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: middle of the colorful bracts. When you buy a poinsettia 60 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: in a store, it already comes sporting its brightly colored, 61 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: fancy bracts, and you might have no idea how hard 62 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: it was to get them there. One Fritz Bar, the 63 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: author of the nineteen thirty seven guide Fritz Bar's Commercial Floriculture, 64 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: A Practical Manual for the Retail Grower, describe the delicate 65 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: and finicky poinsettia thus sleep. Perhaps no other plant or 66 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: flower we handle during Christmas week is more short lived, 67 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: Wilt's quicker, or it is more disappointing to those who 68 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: are it. Yet when the next Christmas comes around, there 69 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: comes again the same demand for poinsettias, and the disappointments 70 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: of a year ago are all forgotten. Over time, floor 71 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: culturists overcame some of these problems, but until the mid 72 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, growing poinsettias and getting them into the hands 73 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,559 Speaker 1: of holiday revelers in relatively good shape was a real trick. 74 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: That was until somebody realized the poinsettias need just one 75 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: thing to turn their green bracts red, pink, or white, 76 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: total darkness. In order to induce your poinsettia plant to 77 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: create flower buds and to change the color of its 78 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: leaves from green in time for Christmas, it must be 79 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: kept in complete darkness for sixteen hours a day. The 80 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: withholding of light prevents the plant from producing chlorophyll, which 81 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: is what makes plant parts green. This lets the bracts 82 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,799 Speaker 1: change to whatever shade of red, pink, white, or orange 83 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: they develop, depending on the variety of the poinsettia, and 84 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: there are about one hundred types grown in the US. 85 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,239 Speaker 1: In order to make that happen, you need to subject 86 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: your plant to about two months of sixteen hours of 87 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: uninterrupted darkness per day, alternated with eight hours of bright light. Oh, 88 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: which means that if you were looking for those bright 89 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: colors this holiday season and you're listening to this episode 90 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: as it comes out, you're out of luck, though you 91 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: might be just in time for a showy Valentine's Day. 92 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: To achieve bright December foliage start somewhere around September twenty first, 93 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: right around the fall equinox. Pull your point setia out 94 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: of its sunny window after eight hours and move it 95 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: into sixteen hours of uninterrupted darkness like put it under 96 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: a box if necessary. During the dark period, the plant 97 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: cannot receive even the slightest bit of light at any time. 98 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: You can just continue this around Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, keep 99 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: your point stetia in bright light or the full sun 100 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: of a sunny window, not keeping the potting soil moist 101 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: or adding excess water, but watering it when the soil 102 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,679 Speaker 1: is dry to the touch. Point setias prefer temperatures around 103 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: or above sixty five degrees fahrenheit that's about eighteen degrees 104 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: celsius boom from December until about April. At this point, 105 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: it's a good idea to cut your pointetia down to 106 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: a three to two eight inch stem that's about eight 107 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: to twenty centimeters and let it regrow, treating it normally 108 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: until the next year. But wait, are these plants poisonous? 109 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: One common urban legend about point cetias is that they're 110 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: toxic to people and animals. However, this seems to stem 111 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,239 Speaker 1: from a single unfounded story that starts circulating around nineteen nineteen. 112 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: Maybe there's some crossover with stories about easter lilies, which 113 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: are in fact very toxic to cats. In the Meanwhile, 114 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: exhaustive studies have found that all parts of the poinsettia 115 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: are safe for incidental exposure. A one study showed that 116 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: a fifty pound or twenty five kilo child would have 117 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: to eat over one pound or half a kilo of 118 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: poinsettia leaves between five hundred and six hundred leaves the 119 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: toxicity to become a problem. However, they don't taste very good, 120 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: and the child who ate them would probably get a 121 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: tummy ache long before they were poisoned. However, there is 122 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: an exception here. Pointsettias contain a milky sap that can 123 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: set off a latex allergy in people with severe latex sensitivities. 124 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: Just being in the same room with the point Cetia 125 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: plant might set off a rash or other symptoms, though 126 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: case reports have shown that these will resolve after normal 127 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: treatment with antihistamines. Be safe out there and enjoy your 128 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: bract based holiday decorations responsibly. Today's episode is based on 129 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: the article Poinsettia, the Mexican Christmas flower that blooms in 130 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: the dark on HowStuffWorks dot Com written by Jesslyn Shields. 131 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with hostuffworks 132 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. For more 133 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 134 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.