Poinsettia found in the center of each leaf bunch, and are called cyathia. The poinsettia is native to Mexico. It is found in the wild in deciduous tropical forests at moderate elevations from southern Sinaloa down the entire Pacific coast of Mexico to Chiapas and Guatemala. It is also found in the interior in the hot, seasonally dry forests of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Reports of "E. pulcherrima" growing in the wild in Nicaragua and Costa Rica have yet to be confirmed by botanists. The Aztecs used the plant to produce red dye and as an antipyretic medication. In Nahuatl, the
Poinsettia in the growth of axillary buds is credited to Ing-Ming Lee of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Poinsettias are susceptible to several diseases, mostly fungal, but also bacterial and parasitic. In the United States and perhaps elsewhere, there is a common misconception that the poinsettia is highly toxic. This misconception was spread by a 1919 urban legend of a two-year-old child dying after consuming a poinsettia leaf. While the sap and latex of many plants of the spurge genus are indeed toxic, the poinsettia's toxicity is relatively mild. Its latex can cause an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. It is