C u e t l a x o c h i t lA flower that is native to Tenochtitlan. The Cuetlaxochitl can grow as high as 10 feet tall and its beautiful red flowers bloom in the winter time in Mexico. The word Cuetlaxochitl means, "mortal flower that perishes and withers like all that is pure". The Cuetlaxochitl was never touched, but left alone as 'an exotic gift from nature'. It was highly prized by Montezuma and Netzahualcoyotl, but could not be grown in their capital, now Mexico City, because of the high altitude. Nevertheless, beautiful botanical gardens existed throughout the Aztec empire in pre-Hispanic times where plants were cultivated for their ornament and medicine. From October to May, the cuetlaxochitl was admired and observed. By careful selection, colors ranging from white to almost black, had been obtained and still exist, even though the scarlet version remains the most abundant today.
Most Mexicans know the Cuetlaxochitl as Noche Buena since it blooms around Christmas time.
The Aztecs used the Cuetlaxochitl for curing fevers, made a reddish purple dye out of the bracts for dyeing clothes and a medicine for fever from the plant's latex, it was also a common female name in Nahautl.
In the United States, the flower is called by the name 'poinsetta', and has a different history, though still of Mexican origin. It all began when Joel Robert Poinsett* was appointed ambassador to Mexico. On Christmas day 1825, Ambassador Poinsett visited a local Taxco church, where the Franciscans had adorned the nativity scene with exotic red flowers that gave it a very elegant and beautiful appearance. With interests in gardening and botany, he had some of the plants sent to his home in South Carolina. The botanical name 'Euphorbia Pulcherrima' had been given by a German taxonomist in 1833. The common name, poinsettia however has remained the accepted name in English-speaking countries.
