[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report in Special English. [00:06.39]Poinsettias are the best-selling potted flowering plant in the United States. [00:12.97]Red poinsettias are a traditional part of Christmas celebrations, [00:18.05]which is why almost all of them are sold at wintertime. [00:22.52]The Department of Agriculture estimates [00:27.19]that Americans bought $250 million worth of poinsettias last year. [00:33.01]The poinsettia is native to Central America and needs warmth to grow. [00:39.33]Bright red poinsettias are the best known. [00:42.91]But there are about one hundred different kinds, [00:46.28]in colors including white, pink, yellow and purple. [00:51.85]The flowers of the poinsettia are very small. [00:56.02]Around the flowers are colorful leaves called bracts. [01:00.85]These bracts are what give the plants their beauty. [01:05.46]The poinsettia is named for Joel Roberts Poinsett from South Carolina. [01:12.33]In 1825 President John Quincy Adams appointed him as the United States' first minister to Mexico. [01:23.12]Poinsett had an interest in plants. He saw the colorful plants growing in the wild. [01:30.71]Wild poinsettias can grow up to four meters tall. [01:35.53]He liked them so much that he sent some cuttings back to the United States. [01:42.05]The botanical name for the plant is Euphorbia pulcherrima. [01:47.77]In Latin, that means "most beautiful euphorbia." [01:52.19]There are hundreds of related plants, including rubber trees, [01:57.66]trees that produce castor and tung oil, and the cassava, a root crop. [02:04.04]People who are allergic to the latex produced by rubber trees [02:09.51]can develop a mild skin rash from poinsettia plants. [02:14.58]Babies and pets that chew on poinsettias can get sick. [02:19.90]But experts say the plant is not as poisonous as some people think. [02:25.61]In the 1920s, Albert Ecke and his son Paul became interested [02:32.88]in the poinsettia's ability to flower in winter. [02:37.36]Paul Ecke thought it would be a good plant to display at Christmastime. [02:42.93]They started a farm near Encinitas, California. [02:47.24]At first, Paul Ecke, and later his son, grew large plants in fields. [02:54.47]Then they sent them to growers by train. [02:58.03]Growers would divide the large plants into cuttings, [03:02.81]to raise smaller ones in greenhouses until the holidays. [03:07.94]In the 1960s came poinsettias that grew best in containers. [03:14.63]The Eckes started to sell cuttings from these new plants. [03:19.68]Today Ecke Ranch remains a major supplier in the United States and around the world. [03:27.52]In August, Paul Ecke's grandson announced [03:31.63]that the company was joining the Dutch-based Agribio Group.

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