What is Cuetlaxochitl? It is a flower that is native to
Tenochtitlan or Mexico City. The Cuetlaxochitl can grow as high as 10 feet tall and its beautiful red flowers
bloom in the winter time.. The winter weather in Mexico City is quite cold
in December and January.
| Beautiful botanical gardens existed throughout the
Mexico empire in pre-Hispanic times. Flowers and herbal plants were cultivated for their beauty and medicinal purposes. From October to mid-May, the
Cuetlaxochitl was admired and observed as it flowered like "birds
aflame." Circa 1440-1446 |
The Mexicas used the Cuetlaxochitl for curing fevers and in dyeing their clothes.
Most Mexicans know the Cuetlaxochitl as Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) since it blooms around
Christmas time.
| In the United States, the flower has another history and another name, but its origin is still Mexican. It all began when Joel Robert Poinsett was appointed as ambassador to Mexico. On Christmas day 1825, Ambassador Poinsett visited the Taxco church in Santa
Prisca, where the Franciscans had adorned the nativity scene with exotic red flowers that gave it a very elegant and uncommon appearance. In the United States the flower is called Poinsettia since the ambassador brought the flower to the United States. |
This flower along with chocolate, corn, avocadoes, peanuts, tomatoes,
chiles, sweet potatoes and many other foods are gifts from Mexico/MesoAmerica to the world.
Cuetlaxochitl is also a common female name in Nahautl.
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