| 释义 |
‖ poinsettia|pɔɪnˈsɛtɪə|
[mod.L. (R. Graham 1836, in Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. XX. 412), f. the name of J. R. Poinsett (1779–1851), American minister to Mexico + -ia1.]
A Mexican species of Euphorbia, E. (Poinsettia) pulcherrima, formerly made the type of a genus, having large scarlet floral leaves surrounding small greenish-yellow flowers; much cultivated in conservatories as Mexican Flame-leaf and Lobster-flower, called in America Easter-flower or Christmas-flower. Also attrib.
1836Curtis's Bot. Mag. LXIII. 3493 (heading) Showy Poinsettia. 1871Kingsley At Last iv, What is this that hangs over into the road, some fifteen feet in height..? What but the Poinsettia, paltry scions of which..adorn our hothouses and dinner-tables. 1872Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) III. 170, I have been more than once assured that butterflies like bright colours—for instance, in India the scarlet leaves of Poinsettia. 1883H. W. V. Stuart Egypt 3 Over the rubbish..still waved magnificent poinsettias and oleander trees. 1906P. Pennington Jrnl. 9 Mar. in Woman Rice Planter (1913) ix. 302 Mr. Poinsett..brought many rare plants from Mexico, among others the Flor de la Noche Buena, which has borne in this country the name Poinsettia in his honor. 1947K. Tennant Lost Haven vii. 99 The town on the slope was aflame with red poinsettias. 1964‘R. Macdonald’ in H. Waugh Merchants of Menace (1969) 78 Plaster painted adobe color, poinsettia-red curtains. 1968J. C. Holmes Nothing More to Declare 43 A few luxuriant poinsettias bloomed among the crumbling buildings and the blistered streets. 1977Ward & Wellsted Indoor Plants 25 (caption) These [developments] culminated in the dwarf poinsettias now so common in florists' displays. 1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 1d/2 It is an eclectic and nurturing environment where poinsettias thrive long after Christmas. |