Of all the holiday traditions involving plants, Christmas trees are the most iconic – but the poinsettia has our hearts. Why? It appeared for the first time in America in Greenville.

Real quick: Are poinsettias plants or flowers?
Plants. The “red flowers” associated with poinsettias are technically leaves. There are small yellow flowers in the center, but they’re a tiny part of the whole poinsettia plant.

How did the poinsettia end up in America?
Charleston native Joel Roberts Poinsett was the first U.S. Minister to Mexico + an amateur botanist who kept greenhouses on his GVL plantation. 🌱 When he found the poinsettia plant on a trip to Mexico in 1828, he sent cuttings home. Poinsett delivered his new plants to friends in Charleston and Philadelphia + everyone fell in love.. the rest is history.

Wait, Poinsett as in the hotel?
Yep – after Joel R. Poinsett passed away in 1851, he was commemorated all over Greenville (and nationally – Poinsettia Day is on the day of his death, Dec. 12). The hotel was named after him + so was Poinsett Highway, the Poinsett Bridge, the Poinsett Club + Poinsett Avenue near Main & Stone. There’s even a statue of him outside Poinsett Hotel on Main St.

But... why is the poinsettia associated with Christmas?
The poinsettia grows as a tree in Mexico + only blooms for a short time around Christmas. Thanks to the poinsettia’s red + green colors, both the plant and the color scheme became popular around the holidays. Today, about 70 million poinsettia plants are sold between Thanksgiving + Christmas.