AT HER blog Camera Lucida, Kidist Paulos Asrat writes about the beauty of poinsettias:

I love poinsettias. I love their deep (almost bluish) red which contrasts with the dark green. I love that the red “petals” are really leaves themselves, and that sometimes the green leaves have strands of red in them. But best of all, I love the feeling of Christmas that poinsettias inspire, almost as much as a Christmas tree. But, as I’ve written here and here, Christmas trees are reflecting less and less that Christmas spirit, since even their name has been denied them to avoid the Christmas season altogether.

How can poinsettias be offensive to anyone? And what can they be re-named, to avoid their association with this particular holiday? Poinsettias they will remain, and they may be one of the few symbols left of a true Christmas.

                                            — Comments —

Kevin Joyce writes:

What can they be re-named?  Well, the poinsettia was named for the American ambassador to Mexico, Mr. Joel Poinsett.  The plant, however, has also been known as “noche buena” and “cuitlaxochitl.”. I truly would not be surprised at an attempt to replace “poinsettia” with one of the latter designations, in the name of botanical de-colonization.

Kidist writes:

I see Mr. Joyce’s point about re-naming the poinsettia. But, unlike “Christmas Tree” there is no distinct Christmas word-association with the plant. I’m sure Mexicans in southern California call it noche buena, but even that is a Christmas reference, which means “Holy Night” or Christmas Eve, so the anti-Christmas folk would have a hard time using that. “Cuitlaxochitl”? I don’t think even Mexicans pronounce this Nahuatl word correctly (or even use it), so I doubt it.

I think we have a true Christmas plant, aesthetically and religiously, staying in our vocabulary:

The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and the red color represents the blood sacrifice through the crucifixion of Jesus (From Wikipedia):

So, perhaps the Mexican tradition has given us something worthwhile!

Please follow and like us: