Christmas Flower
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Also known as Poinsettia
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- August-February
How to identify Christmas Flower
Identify Christmas Flower by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Large red bracts around tiny true flowers (poinsettia).
- Confirm leaf margin: Toothed.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Red.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: August-February.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Assam and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Euphorbia pulcherrima
- Genus
- Euphorbia
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Grown in gardens
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Native to
- Central America
- Distribution
- Cultivated in tropics and subtropics
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- August-February
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf margin
- ToothedrecordedA saw-like or jagged edge (serrate or dentate).“The plant bears dark green dentate leaves that measure 6–16 centimetres (2.4–6.3 in) in length.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Christmas Flower itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Redrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Christmas Flower itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Nepali
- लालुपाते फूल
- Bengali
- লালপাতা
- Tamil
- பொய்ன் செட்டியா
- Kannada
- ಪೊಯನ್ ಸೆಟಿಯಾ
- Malayalam
- പോയിൻസെറ്റിയ
About Christmas Flower
Christmas flower (Euphorbia pulcherrima) belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and 18 other states. It is grown in gardens. Flowering and fruiting run from August to February.
Uses
Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
In culture
It is treated as sacred and appears in worship.
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge/Euphorbia family
Christmas Flower belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Euphorbiaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides