ContentsIn most parts of the world known as the Christmas Star, this is the native inhabitant of the dry subtropical forests of Mexico. The triumphal procession of a flower all over the world began with the United States, and today poinsettia varieties for growing a house number in the hundreds.
The discovery and popularization of an amazing plant is due to D.R. Poinsett, the American ambassador to Mexico, who worked in this country in the first half of the 19th century. A botanist-enthusiast sent the first saplings to the USA, where work on the "domestication" of a bright southerner was immediately started.
Wild-growing representatives of this crop, which once fell into the hands of breeders, were strikingly different from the poinsettia varieties for the home, which are cultivated by thousands of gardeners.
The rosettes of bright stipules on the tops of the shoots and the inflorescence itself were difficult to call compact. And the nature has come up with only one color variant - bright red. This color is preserved in the first, from the varieties obtained later.
Poinsettia Oak Leaf is the first cultivated variety, obtained in the first half of the last century and named after the characteristic shape of the leaves, resembling the leaves of American oak.
In the past century, with the advent of knowledge of plant genetics, work on the development of new varieties has accelerated. New varieties have acquired not only more compact forms, resistance to many diseases and pests, compact large-leaved inflorescences, but also original colors.
Popular varieties of poinsettia
The true embodiment of Christmas is the classic bright red Premium Red Poinsettia with yellow-green, as if glowing middle and pointed wide bracts.
For lovers of rich colors and laconic traditional forms, breeders have created a whole series of Cortez varieties dedicated to the conqueror of Mexico Fernand Cortes. The most solemn and memorable in this collection can be called the sort of poinsettia Cortez Burgundy with purple apical stipules.
Equally attractive Cortez Red poinsettia with fiery red upper leaves, on which dark green veins appear as the shoot grows.
Compared with the plants of this series described above, the variety of poinsettia Cortez Pink strikes with delicate purity. Pink leaves are surrounded with pink leaves, the tone of which becomes lighter with distance from the top.
Rosaceous poinsettia varieties for home
A bright novelty - poinsettia varieties with textured, fancifully curved leaves. Thanks to them, the shoots are like flowering lush roses or peonies.
The first of the “terry” varieties at the disposal of flower growers was the poinsettia variety Winter Rose with a small greenish core and a chimney leaf bordering it with a luxurious rosette.
The special feature of the Premium Miro poinsettia variety is not only curved compressed “petals”, but also their double colouration combining snow white and pink shades.
Winter Rose Early Red poinsettia variety with solemn red leaves at the very top of the shoot will appeal to those who are not indifferent to roses and want to admire their exquisite pomp even in the cold season.
Milky white “petals” will light up the room on the darkest winter day. Another representative of the family of "winter roses" - poinsettia Winter Rose White.
Connoisseurs of amazing plants and flower growers who love unusual combinations of paints are offered the Poinsettia variety Freedom Jingle Bells. The tops of the stems are striking in their rosaceous form and delicate pink bracts bordered by a thin light green stripe.
Amazing white poinsettia
The leaves diverging from the small pearl-green core are narrower than the main, green, pointed and very much like a bright star burning high in the sky. The appearance of the White Star poinsettia fully explains its name. An unpretentious indoor flower will decorate any room and will look great in a duet with a scarlet "Christmas star".
The Poarsettia Polar Bear variety, or polar bear, evokes thoughts of frost patterns on glass and sun glare on virgin-white ice. A compact yellow-green core and green streaks on the lower leaves enliven the picture.
Poinsettia Arctic White enjoys well-deserved love of gardeners. Its white-colored bracts against the backdrop of rich greenery look even more refined and bright.
Variegated varieties of home poinsettia
Wild-growing poinettia cannot indulge flower growers with a variety of colors. However, using the natural mutation of the plant, breeders were able to get amazingly beautiful variegated poinsettia varieties for growing at home.
These varieties are conditionally divided into two types. The first is the Poinsettia Sonora Marble, the upper leaves of which are painted in white and pink tones, and the lower ones are completely green.
Winter Blush Marble poinsettia with dark green main leaves and delicate pink bracts, edged with a white uneven border.
A special place among the "marble" poinsettia takes a grade of Strawberry and cream. White spots here are randomly located, mostly on young, still small leaves. The unusual plant, besides this, strikes with a bizarrely cut up form of foliage, like its wild ancestors, which retained its similarity with the leaves of American oak.
The poinsettia variety Da Vinci, named in honor of the legendary painter and scientist, is astonished by its delicate pink foliage, covered with a scattering of fine carmine sprays.
An incredibly strong impression on the viewer is made by the Monet Twilight poinsettia with pink and white bracts, as if sprayed with scarlet paint from an airbrush.
If all the varieties described were of the first type and they were bicolor bicolor bracts, the Poestonti variety Tapestry is another matter. This plant, as seen in the photo, has bright scarlet bracts, and the leaves located down along the shoot are decorated with a yellow, uneven edging along the edge.
The Carousel
series of poinsettia varieties. So far, there are only two varieties in the Poinsettia collection with intricately twisted edges of bracts. This is the Carousel Dark Red variety with dark scarlet "petals" at the base of modest greenish inflorescences and Carousel Red poinsettia of a lighter tone.
However, the work of breeders has just begun, and after the appearance of these varieties 10 years ago they promise to please flower growers with light pink, marble and white poinsettia with original flounces.
Yellow, orange and salmon poinsettias
Poinsettia Cinnamon Star is a real gift for fans of bright unusual colors and joyful variety on the windowsill. In contrast to the described varieties to the beginning of flowering, this plant reveals orange-salmon leaves, which gradually acquire a beautiful pink or chimney blush.
Another variety of flower with yellow bracts much softer than the first. This is a type of poinsettia Lemon snow or "lemon snow."
Poinsettia varieties - Christmas present
For nearly 150 years, poinsettia in the United States, and then in other countries of the world, is considered a living symbol of Christmas. This beautiful flower decorates many houses and is presented as a gift. It is not surprising that breeders give new varieties and hybrids names associated with winter and beloved by all the holidays.
Poinsettia Premium Ice Crysta is the most delicate of the Christmas varieties. Its pointed heart-shaped leaves near a small green inflorescence, as if after a walk in the cold, are covered with a bright joyful blush.
Perfectly creating the mood of the eve of the Poinsettia Jingle Bells celebration with colorful bracts, it is not for nothing that it got its name. When looking at a flower, it seems that its carmine-red leaves are flaming with fluffy New Year's snow.
The Ice Punch poinsettia variety will remind you that this holiday will not work without a cup of fragrant punch seasoned with a melting cube of transparent ice.
Sonora White Glitter is bright as a festive firework of the poinsettia. Not only that white flashes on carmine leaves raise the mood, luxurious “flowers” look incredibly contrasting against the background of basic, dark green or purple foliage.
Poinsettia is not for nothing recognized as the most extraordinary representative of the family Euphorbia. The reason lies not only in the stunning appearance, but also in the selection flexibility, thanks to which flower growers today have the opportunity to admire the most different forms and colors of this plant.
