Montezuma, the last of the Aztec kings, was forced to have Poinsettias caravaned from the south into what now is Mexico City because the plant could not grow in such high altitudes. The leaves were also used to make dye. He shipped samples to South Carolina, where they were called "Mexican Fire Plant." The Aztecs had called the plant "Cuetlaxochitl," and from the 14th-Century to the 16th, used the sap to control fevers. In 1828, shortly before his absence was requested, Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist, was visiting the Mexican state of Taxco where he first saw the plant that would eventually be named after him.
However, the Mexicans did not want to sell Texas and, in 1829, they invited the hapless Ambassador Poinsett to leave. That was a tumultuous time in Mexico, and, to make matters even more difficult, Poinsett's impossible task was to buy the Mexican land we know as Texas, for a million dollars. Fluency in Spanish (as well as French, Italian and German) resulted in Poinsett's diplomatic appointment by President John Quincy Adams as the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (then called Minister of Mexico).
However, the Mexicans did not want to sell Texas and, in 1829, they invited the hapless Ambassador Poinsett to leave. That was a tumultuous time in Mexico, and, to make matters even more difficult, Poinsett's impossible task was to buy the Mexican land we know as Texas, for a million dollars. Fluency in Spanish (as well as French, Italian and German) resulted in Poinsett's diplomatic appointment by President John Quincy Adams as the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (then called Minister of Mexico).
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