70 to 80 million potted poinsettias typically sold for the holidays. While the standard three- to six-bloom red poinsettia is the most popular, there are over 100 different commercial varieties that come in a plethora of sizes and shapes.
Poinsettias Popular Again For Christmas Season
The Christmas season is upon us and the most popular plant in people’s homes continues to be the poinsettia during this time.
According to national agriculture statistics, poinsettias are still the leader in sales of flowering plants, with $154 million in value, as of 2008.
Why are poinsettias considered such an important plant during the Christmas season? Poinsettias are synonymous with the Christmas season today, but the first to use the brilliant flowers for decoration during the Fiesta del Santo Pesebre, a nativity procession, were a group of Franciscan priests who were settled near Taxco, Mexico in the 17th century.
The poinsettia varieties we find at the stores today are products of intensive breeding efforts that started in the 1820’s when Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 - 1851), then US ambassador in Mexico became enchanted with this Mexican native-plant and began propagating it and sending it to friends and botanical gardens in the US. By act of Congress December 12 th, the date of Mr. Poinsett’s death, was set aside as National Poinsettia Day.
Texas AgriLife Extension entomologist Dr. Carlos Bográn works to keep poinsettia growers profitable by researching ways to combat whiteflies and other pests with reduced inputs.
Bográn has helped growers by conducting research on the effectiveness of alternative pest management strategies for whiteflies on poinsettias.
Whiteflies injure poinsettias by using their needle-like mouthparts to feed on the sap in the phloem vessels of the plant . Feeding damage on poinsettias can lead to discoloration of the branches, reduced plant size, early leaf loss and accumulation of black- sooty mold on leaf surfaces.
Whiteflies excrete a sticky substance known as honeydew (a byproduct of their feeding) which is a great substrate for sooty mold growth. Extensive whitefly feeding damage may significantly reduce the aesthetic quality of poinsettia plants and may cause significant economic loss to poinsettia growers.
Bográn emphasizes the best way to prevent problems with whitefliesis to keep plants clean by integrating sanitation, careful inspection and quick action to eliminate insect populations before they reproduce to damaging levels. By keeping whitefly populations low, producers can avoid plant damage and enhance effectiveness of any pest control action, when needed.
Although the poinsettia is the most widely tested plant in the marketplace, the urban legend that the plant is toxic continues to persist.
Scientific research from The Ohio State University has shown the poinsettia to be non-toxic to both humans and pets. All parts of the plant were tested, including the leaves and sap.
According to POISINDEX, the national information center for poison control centers, a child would have to ingest 500-600 leaves in order to exceed the experimental doses that found no toxicity.
A study from the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University found that out of 22,793 reported poinsettia exposures there was essentially no toxicity significance of any kind. The study used national data collected by the American Association of Poison Control Centers
Of course, the research doesn’t mean that the poinsettia is a food plant but it should alleviate the concerns of parents and pet owners. As with any non-food plant, the poinsettia should be kept out of the reach of children and pets.
Enjoy poinsettias in your homes and places of work, and know too part their beauty is a byproduct of the research and education programs conduced by entomologists like Dr. Carlos Bográn.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Department of Entomology!