12/20/2020
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About my illustration "Noche Buena". https://buff.ly/3rd9cmw
The flower that inspired this illustration is called a "Noche Buena." They are indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The most popular ones are red, but some varieties have white flowers.
I know that most folks in the US call it a poinsettia, but this flower, which has existed in Mexico forever, had a name before it was rechristened. During the 1800s there was a member of the US House of Representatives that also became an envoy to Mexico. He found the flower beautiful and considered himself to be a bit of a botanist. He claimed to have discovered the flower, and then named it after himself.
Imagine someone from Mexico with the surname Lopez. They visit Texas, see a bluebonnet, claim they discovered the flower, and then decide to call the flower "the Lopezito." Texans would be incensed with someone who claimed to have discovered something that existed all along. But this tends to be how the US historically operates. As if nothing really exists until it has been seen by the eyes of a white person.
Poinsett was in Mexico, surrounded by these flowers during the holiday season. He could have easily asked what they called the flower, but somehow that idea escaped him. I know it's difficult when what we've been taught is challenged.
History is just a story repeated over and over. That doesn't mean the story is complete, sometimes the story isn't true at all. Whether you call the flower a poinsettia, or a Noche Buena, now you know more about the history behind it.
