Picture of the week
December 14, 2020
Poinsettia's True Flowers Are Petal-less
Rosie Lerner, Consumer Horticulture Specialist, Purdue University
The poinsettia's large, showy bracts are often mistaken for petals, but are actually leaf-like structures that form just below the true flowers. And while the bracts are not actually inside the true flowers, they are associated with the flowering process. In addition to traditional red, poinsettia bracts can be white, pink, yellow or multi-colored. At the top and center of these showy bracts is a cluster of yellow and green (and sometimes red) flower structures called cyathia. Though the cyathia are without petals, they do contain both male and female flower parts. As the flowers mature, the male structures release their pollen. Old fashioned poinsettias tended to lose their showy bracts soon after the true flowers were done shedding pollen, but modern cultivars have been bred to retain their bracts for quite a long show.
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Colorful bracts of the poinsettia plant associated with flowering.
True flowers of poinsettia called cyathia are without petals.
