Species
+

Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch

Christmas-flower, Christmas-star, Flor de Pascua (ES); Weihnachtsstern (DE), Floramada

Climate known 51 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

The poinsettia is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s; however, there have been recent efforts to rename the flower to its Nahuatl name, "cuetlaxōchitl", due to Poinsett's involvement in slavery and the Trail of Tears. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Poinsettia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Euphorbia

Euphorbia is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae.

Text from Wikipedia, “Euphorbia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Euphorbiaceae
Described by
Willd. ex Klotzsch
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +4
Wild records
388 in range· 274 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Apr, mean day; nights 15 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1265mm/yr
8 wet months · peak Sep 259 mm (CHELSA)
Light
30–45DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by Euphorbia pulcherrima specifically, which is the exception in its genus (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1265 mm a year, wettest September at 259 mm, driest March at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 6.2 °C habitat night).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Euphorbia coccinea Raf.; Euphorbia coccinea Willd.; Euphorbia coccinea Willd. ex Boiss.; Euphorbia diversifolia Willd.; Euphorbia diversifolia Willd. ex Boiss. and 28 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by Euphorbia pulcherrima specifically, which is the exception in its genus (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (964 mm of 1265 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 21.8 °C against a yearly mean of 20.4 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1265 mm a year, wettest September at 259 mm, driest March at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1265 mm a year at the habitat, 964 mm of it June to September. Wettest month September at 259 mm, driest March at 11 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 659 mm to 2078 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 24, the highest 90th-percentile month 48).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 6.2 °C habitat night).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 6.2 °C, the absolute minimum -1.5 °C, 3 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 37.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 11.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 5.7 °C to 18.2 °C), warmest day 28.3 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12 °C. The habitat figure, the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER), is 6.2 °C; the archetype table's conventional minimum for a tropical foliage plant (grouped by Euphorbia pulcherrima specifically, which is the exception in its genus) is 12 °C, which is higher, and the floor rule takes the higher.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 23 °C in Jan to 28 °C in Apr; mean night from 12 °C in Jan to 18 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1265 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 313 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -1.5 °C and the 99th-percentile day 37.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost37.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)-1.5° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 30–45RH 55–68 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 313 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C23 / 19–2825 / 21–2927 / 22–3128 / 23–3228 / 23–3227 / 22–3126 / 21–3026 / 21–3025 / 20–2925 / 20–2924 / 20–2823 / 19–28
Night °C12 / 6–1812 / 6–1913 / 8–2015 / 9–2117 / 11–2218 / 12–2317 / 11–2317 / 11–2317 / 11–2316 / 10–2214 / 8–2013 / 6–19
Rain mm20 / 5–6414 / 7–5311 / 4–4826 / 2–7569 / 14–183218 / 106–362248 / 125–383239 / 122–368259 / 112–396121 / 51–23827 / 11–10513 / 5–64
DLI32 / 25–3437 / 30–3943 / 35–4545 / 39–4843 / 36–4837 / 32–4136 / 33–4136 / 32–4032 / 29–3532 / 28–3532 / 25–3430 / 24–33
RH %56 / 51–6755 / 49–6555 / 47–6355 / 47–6258 / 51–6665 / 57–7066 / 59–7066 / 60–7168 / 61–7265 / 58–7060 / 54–6858 / 52–68

Each figure is the median across the 313 grid cells holding the 383 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1399:1649 (20.025, -97.525). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -1.5 °C, 1st-percentile night 6.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 37.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 313 distinct grid cells holding the 383 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1399:1649 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 20.00_-97.500, lapse-corrected -383 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 868 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Guatemala· introduced: Italy, Tunisia, Canary Is., Gambia, The, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Malawi, Comoros, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, West Himalaya, Thailand, Vanuatu, Society Is., Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Southwest Caribbean, Trinidad-Tobago, Brazil Northeast, Juan Fernández Is.
Kew's description“shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker19.248, -99.085 · in the densest population, 277 records (71% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 388 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 274 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 29 km away. 1279 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 5 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 388 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Euphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrimaEuphorbia pulcherrima

Photographs: (c) Grete Pasch, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Rafael Cano, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Dhrupad Das, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Doreen, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Euphorbia pulcherrima, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Distribution of Phytoplasmas in Infected Plants as Revealed by Real-Time PCR and Bioimaging
Nynne M. Christensen, Mogens Nicolaisen, Michael Hansen, Alexander Schulz (2004) · Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Effect of Commercially Available Plant-Derived Essential Oil Products on Arthropod Pests
Raymond A. Cloyd, Cindy L. Galle, Stephen R. Keith, Nanette A Kalscheur (2009) · Journal of Economic Entomology
Surtos populacionais de Bemisia tabaci no estado de São Paulo
André Luiz Lourenção, Hiroshi Nagai (1994) · Bragantia
Electrochemical properties of Euphorbia pulcherrima mediated copper oxide nanoparticles
J. Sackey, Assumpta C. Nwanya, A.K.H. Bashir, N. Matinise (2020) · Materials Chemistry and Physics
Extraordinary Resistance to Insecticides Reveals Exotic Q Biotype of Bemisia tabaci in the New World
Timothy J. Dennehy, Benjamin A. Degain, Virginia S. Harpold, Marni Zaborac (2010) · Journal of Economic Entomology
Physical Properties of Three Container Media and their Effect on Poinsettia Growth1
William C. Fonteno, D. K. Cassel, Rebekka A. Larson (1981) · Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Handbook of Poisoning in Dogs and Cats
Alexander Campbell, Michael P. Chapman (2000)

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Euphorbia 29 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 175 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.