poinsettia
Poinsettia (noun) means a poinsettia is a plant with small flowers surrounded by large, bright red leaves, widely used as a Christmas decoration. Example: “She bought a poinsettia to brighten up the hallway for Christmas.”
How to use poinsettia
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA poinsettia is the red-leaved plant you see everywhere at Christmas.
Poinsettia is an everyday word, common in gardening and seasonal contexts.
The bright red parts are leaves, not petals; the real flowers are small and sit at the centre.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
She bought a _____ to brighten up the hallway for Christmas.
Etymology
Poinsettia takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a nineteenth-century United States minister to Mexico, by way of the former genus name Poinsettia, formed from Poinsett plus the suffix -ia.
