There are several legends surrounding the origin of Christmas Eve, one of the most typical flowers of Christmas parties. The oldest one assures that the Aztec warriors received them as an offering in case of dying in battle, although a variant of the chronicle points out that the cuetlaxochitlas the flower was then known, was given to the soldiers of pre-Hispanic times as a sign of victory.
There is no historical certainty about which of these two versions is the true one. What we do know is that the ancient Mexicas not only used the flower ornamentally or in war rituals. The cuetlaxochitl It was also used to dye fabrics or leather.
In fact, the Nahuatl word cuetlaxochitl It means leather flower, although not precisely because of the use it was given to pigment the skin of animals. Its name came from the fact that its star-shaped leaves are as resistant as the aforementioned material.
On the etymology, historians have not agreed either, there are those who affirm that Cuetlaxóchitl actually means flower that withers. The truth is that the poinsettia flower is one of the contributions that Mexico has made to the world, along with cocoa and tomato, among others.
Christmas Eve, a flower to evangelize
After the defeat of the Mexica culture at the hands of the Spaniards and the beginning of evangelization, the first religious took advantage of the fact that Cuetlaxóchitl flourished in the last month of the year, coinciding with the Christian tradition of the birth of Jesus.
Thus, the friars began to use it as part of the evangelization process. They asked the indigenous people to harvest it, and then take it to the church as an ornament of the manger.
At that time the red color of the flower was not considered typical of Christmas. That chromatic identification arose until the middle of the 20th century, from the posters and commercial advertisements of an important soft drink company of American origin. Actually, for Spanish religious the cuetlaxochitl it was just an instrument through which they managed to get the indigenous people to come closer to the church.
A thousand names and medicinal uses for the cuetlaxochitl
Poinsettia is a shrub between one and three meters high, which is scientifically called Euphorbia pulcherrima. Its red, orange, green, yellow or cream-colored flowers are actually the bracts that protect the true flower that is located in the center of its body, where the stem ends, according to the Atlas of Traditional Medicine Plants. Mexican from UNAM.
It is the most cultivated ornamental plant in Mexico, and the second most important in crops of this type in the United States, only after the orchid. It ceased to be wild after the medicinal use given to it by the ancient settlers of central and southeastern Mexico.
In the territory now occupied by Mexico City, and the states of Puebla and Morelos, it was used to increase milk secretion in women after childbirth. They prepared it in tea or in a poultice that was smeared on the back of the nursing mother.
In Puebla, the cooking of its flowers was also used to control vaginal bleeding. It even came to have contraceptive uses, according to the ethnobotany of the Atlas of plants already mentioned. In turn, in the State of Mexico and Michoacán, the latex extracted from the plant is applied to eliminate warts and sores, as well as sores and sores.
It also relieves skin infections and wounds, reduces inflammation from insect bites, while its lemon-roasted leaves eliminate bumps and bruises. Likewise, its use is known to treat respiratory diseases, parotitis (mumps), heart conditions and even rabies.
It is logical that a plant so old and with so many properties receives different names, among these are:
- Mexico: Custicpascua Xóchitl (yellow poinsettia), Pascuaxóchitl (poinsettia), poinsettia, and poinsettia stick.
- Argentina: it is called federal star, pastor, pascuero or poinsettia.
- Venezuela receives the name of parrot.
- Nicaragua is called a shepherd flower.
- And in some areas of the American Union it is called Christmas star (Christmas star).
To the rest of the world it is known as poinsettia (poinsettia in English), in honor of the man who introduced it to the United States in the 19th century: Joel Roberts Poinsett. This was a doctor, botanist and soldier, considered the first ambassador of that country in Mexico. Poinsett He took several specimens of the flower in 1828, thereby promoting its internationalization.
A flower with a patent…in the United States
At the beginning of the 20th century, specifically in 1909, the German emigrant Albert Ecke began the massive cultivation of poinsettia in the town of Encinitas, in the state of California.
Over the years, Ecke made various variations on the poinsettias, making them not only red or yellow, in fact the plant that is marketed in the United States has a wide range of colors and different shapes in its foliage, thanks to the experiments of Albert Ecke, who patented each of these modifications.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Ecke family holds some 500 patents for as many variations made to the plant. In fact, for 103 years, the Eckes’ ranch in Encinitas, California held the world’s monopoly on poinsettia production.
By Surya Palacios