Where can a person purchase poinsettia seeds ???

Modern poinsettia cultivars on the market today are vegetatively propagated from cuttings. Though seedlings are sometimes used in the breeding process, poinsettia seeds, especially from Euphorbia pulcherrima, are difficult to come by and not commercially available. You can harvest seeds from a plant left over from christmas but unfortunately the seedlings will most likely not come true to type.

Be careful if you see "Poinsettia Seeds" sold on the Internet. They are from a plant that I have seen growing wild here in Texas and Oklahoma and are locally called "Wild Poinsettias". They do indeed have a milky sap as in the euphorbe family and do have orange/reddish bracts that are generally the diameter of a quarter but they are NOT anything like the cultivated Poinsettias we grow for the Christmas season.....Michael Pawelek
PS-Here is one growing in a crack in the sidewalk up against my larger greenhouse today. For reference the whole plant is the size of a small beach ball though they can easily get 3 feet tall down here on the Texas Gulf Coast.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael Pawelek,