poinsettia

noun

Etymology: After the obsolete genus name Poinsettia, named after Joel Roberts Poinsett (19th-century US minister to Mexico); equivalent to Poinsett + -ia.

1. A plant, Euphorbia pulcherrima, with rather small and insignificant flowers surrounded by large bright red leaves; native to Mexico and Central America and widely cultivated as a garden plant;; widely used in Christmas floral displays.

   “Masses of scarlet Poinsettias glowed bravely against the dark green background formed by broad-leafed plantains, whose great tattered leaves rustled with every gust of wind that reached them.”

   ““So red,” she said of the poinsettias behind Florencia, which Jacquie didn’t even like because of how even the real ones look fake.”