英语词汇poinsettia的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

poinsettia. This bright red flower, a symbol of Yuletide, could not have been named for a more fiery personality. Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851) had much of the Christmas spirit in him, too, at least a great love for the oppressed and a romantic revo- lutionary desire to better their lives. Poinsett served as a mem- ber of the South Carolina legislature and as a congressman for a number of years, but found himself more in his own element when appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825. Here his revolutionary ardor was so excessive that he lasted only four years, his recall demanded first by the regime that he helped overthrow and then by the republican regime that re- placed it. By this time Poinsett was a familiar public figure and when he sent specimens of the large, fiery flowers that we know so well back to this country, they were named after him. Poin- sett hadn’t discovered the plant, of course, and it had even been introduced to the United States before him; his popularity alone accounted for the honor. The ousted ambassador went on to become Van Buren’s secretary of war, and a Union leader during the Civil War, despite his southern origins. The Poinset- tia genus commemorating him is now considered part of the genus Euphorbia, but the gorgeously colored Mexican species, its tapering scarlet bracts so much a part of Christmas, is still called the poinsettia. In England it is known as the Mexican flame-leaf.

词汇	poinsettia
词源	poinsettia. This bright red flower, a symbol of Yuletide, could not have been named for a more fiery personality. Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851) had much of the Christmas spirit in him, too, at least a great love for the oppressed and a romantic revo- lutionary desire to better their lives. Poinsett served as a mem- ber of the South Carolina legislature and as a congressman for a number of years, but found himself more in his own element when appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825. Here his revolutionary ardor was so excessive that he lasted only four years, his recall demanded first by the regime that he helped overthrow and then by the republican regime that re- placed it. By this time Poinsett was a familiar public figure and when he sent specimens of the large, fiery flowers that we know so well back to this country, they were named after him. Poin- sett hadn’t discovered the plant, of course, and it had even been introduced to the United States before him; his popularity alone accounted for the honor. The ousted ambassador went on to become Van Buren’s secretary of war, and a Union leader during the Civil War, despite his southern origins. The Poinset- tia genus commemorating him is now considered part of the genus Euphorbia, but the gorgeously colored Mexican species, its tapering scarlet bracts so much a part of Christmas, is still called the poinsettia. In England it is known as the Mexican flame-leaf.
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