Birth flower for December 25
Poinsettia
Meaning: good cheer and success
Those red “petals” are actually bracts — the real flowers are the tiny yellow beads in the middle. Native to Mexico, where the Aztecs used it for dye, it is named after Joel Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, who sent plants home in the 1820s. The bracts only color up when nights grow long, which neatly times the show for Christmas.