IN THIS season of Christmas cheer, there is much to celebrate in the traditions that have come to be associated with the festival. And there is much for business to celebrate in the symbols and customs intrinsic to the festival. For instance, the poinsettia, a plant that has been associated with Christmas since the 16th century. Although it is now available in many hues, its traditional red and green foliage is widely used in Christmas floral decorations.
The shrub, known for its showy red bracts or modified leaves, is native to Mexico and was used by the Aztecs for dyeing their garments and as an antipyretic medicine. How the cuetlaxochitl, meaning "flower that grows in residues" in the Aztec language, became the Christmas Eve flower of modern times as well as a top-selling potted plant is a story replete with patents, a market monopoly and a leaked trade secret that finally undermined one American family's control of the business in the 1990s after a nearly 100-year run.
Brought to the US by the country's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, a botanist, the poinsettia was named after him. It caught the fancy of Albert Ecke, an émigré from Germany, who sold it on the streets of Los Angeles. His son and grandson promoted the attractive variations they developed through a grafting technique to create fuller, more compact plants than the weedy original. Their intensive marketing of a regular release of new varieties turned the poinsettia into the most popular potted plant in America, accounting for sales of more than US $250 million annually, a big chunk of it in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Esta historia es de la edición January 01, 2023 de Down To Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 01, 2023 de Down To Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.