In Central America, poinsettia are said to have originated with a couple of poor native children who wanted to present a gift to the Christ child at the Christmas Eve services. Sad that they could not bring riches to him, they gathered some weeds along the roadside on their way to the church to present at the foot of the nativity scene.
They remembered the saying “that even the most humble of gifts, if given in love, will be accepted in his eyes.”
After the children laid the bouquet of weeds down by the nativity, the plant suddenly burst into blooms of brilliant red and all who had witnessed it swore they had seen a Christmas miracle. From that day on, the bright red flowers of the poinsettia have been known as the Flowers of the Holy Night, for they bloom each year during the Christmas season.
