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Relying on the place you reside, there may be one plant you could spot anyplace in the course of the winter vacation season (exterior of, properly, Christmas timber): poinsettias. It was named for the primary US minister to Mexico: Joel Poinsett. In Mexico, Poinsett noticed the plant — known as cuetlaxochitl by the Aztecs and with a protracted historical past of use within the area — and shipped some cuttings again to the US.
Many world wide began calling the plant “poinsettia” to have a good time Poinsett’s legacy. However that legacy is a troubling one. Poinsett was an enslaver and a agency believer in American growth, and through his tenure as secretary of conflict he oversaw the displacement of hundreds of Native People. In his function as minister to Mexico, he meddled a lot in native politics that he was requested to depart the nation.
Due to that historical past — and the truth that the US nonetheless corners the profitable poinsettia market whereas limiting their imports from Mexico — many individuals at this time reject the identify poinsettia in favor of the plant’s Native identify, cuetlaxochitl. Try the video above for extra on how the US obtained the poinsettia.
This video is a part of Lacking Chapter, our sequence on hidden histories, now on its third season.
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