poinsettia

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌpɔɪnˈsɛ.tɪə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpɔɪnˈsɛ.t(i)ə/

poinsettia (plural poinsettias)

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.
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 22:

     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.

• (Euphorbia pulcherrima): Christmas star, Mexican flame leaf