Poinsettias are native to tropical forests of southern Mexico and Central America, where they grow in the wild as bushes or small trees. It grows under minimum temperature of 13-15°C (55-59°F) during the flowering season. It is a deciduous tropical forest; hot, seasonally dry forest; moist or wet, wooded ravines.

A small tree or shrub up to 4 m tall with few, stout, hairless branches

BARK: smooth, green.

LEAVES: relatively thin, usually 12-20 cm long with pointed tips. They are borne on long, slender petioles (leaf stalks). The leaves are dark green, oval leaves and “toothed" on the sides

FLOWERS: Each tiny, petal-less female flower is surrounded by male flowers in a cup-shaped series of bracts known as a cyathium. Each cyathium bears a two-lipped, yellow gland. The green and yellow cyathia are in turn surrounded by a series of large, bright red bracts.

FRUITS: Tri-lobed capsules, about 1.5 × 1.5-2.0 cm.

It’s widely cultivated as a garden ornamental.

Poinsettia latex has been used as a hair removal cream.

A red dye has been obtained from the bracts.

Medicine: the latex has been used as a remedy for toothache and to cause vomiting.