Poinsettias seem to be everywhere during the holiday season.

“The No. 1 reason people get a poinsettia is because it reminds them of the holiday colors,” said Eduardo Rascon, a horticulture county agent with Texas A&M AgriLife.

The story of the poinsettia begins in 17th-century Mexico. Legend says a poor girl named Pepita had no gift to bring the Christ Child in the manger scene at church. So, she gathered weeds by the roadside and offered them as a gift. They miraculously transformed into the red bracts we know today.

The Aztecs grew the plants in the Taxco region for decorative and medicinal purposes. Their horticultural name is euphorbia pulcherrima. But their popular name comes from Joel Poinsett, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the United States. The poinsett

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