Winter Wisdom

Brought to you in cooperation with the Kansas State University Johnson County Research and Extension Master Gardeners.   Each week we feature interesting topics for winter reading.

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Week of 1/1/2000

The holidays are past us now but the plants we associate with the holidays are not.  In this week's Winter Wisdom we take a look at three holiday favorites explaining their origins, culture, and growth habits.

Poinsettia
Among the plants which bring a touch of color and warmth to cold holidays, the favorite in most homes is the poinsettia, named for the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsette of South Carolina.  A member of a large semi-tropical family, its botanical name is Euphorbia pulcherrima.  The familiar red "flowers" are actually bracts.  The real flowers are small green and yellow blossoms at the center of the bracts.  In Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean, poinsettias grow to 8 to 10 feet in height and are often used as hedges. New varieties and colors appear each year.  This year's new arrival is the "Christmas Rose", a poinsettia with small rose-like flowers.

All poinsettias thrive indoors in a sunny window or bright area where the temperature ranges from 65 to 75º F.  Protect them from wet feet only when the soil begins to dry to the touch. Contact your County Extension office for detailed information on over wintering and re-blooming.

In addition to the poinsettia there are two other plants which are increasingly coming to be associated with the winter holiday season, Amaryllis and Christmas cactus.

Amaryllis - Hippeastrum 
Our ancestors gazed at the star-sprinkled sky and imagined they saw the figures of gods, heroes and animals in their constellations.  Equally imaginative observers of growing things say in their shapes and form a resemblance often colorful and sometimes obscure.  A case in point is the amaryllis, which is rapidly replacing the poinsettia as a holiday favorite.

The botanical name for amaryllis is Hippeastrum from Greek hippos, horse.  The allusion is apparently to the fancied resemblance of the bulb and its protruding pair of strap-like leaves to a horse's head. (Referring to the usual height of the flower-crested scape, the genus might more appropriately have been dubbed Giraffoidus.)

Zygocactus (Christmas Cactus)
"Christmas Cactus", which now has degenerated to a supermarket novelty, takes its botanical name from the Greek zygos, an ox yolk.  The name refers to the unusual shape of the stems' joints and to the irregular shape of the flowers.  A somewhat more attractive succulent cousin is Schlumbergia, called "Easter Cactus" whose flowers are not zygomorphic, but open fully and symmetrically.  It is named for the mid-19th century French horticulturist, Frederick Schlumberger.  In addition to the difference in flowers, the latter has terminal stem joints that are yoke-shaped and hirsute.

Articles submitted by Bill Latimer, Johnson County Extension Horticulture Assistant and Dennis Patton, Johnson County Extension Horticulture Agent.

Previous Weeks' Winter Wisdom

* Winter Wisdom is an information service of the Kansas State Johnson County Research and Extension Master Gardeners.  Research-based responses are provided by Extension Master Gardener volunteers weekdays from March 1 through October 31, from 9:00 am to 4:30pm .  To telephone, call (913) 764-6306 or visit the Extension Office at 13480 South Arapaho Drive, Olathe, Kansas.  Visit their website at www.oznet.ksu.edu/Johnson 

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