In warm climates, the poinsettia grows outdoors as a winter-flowering
leggy shrub about 3 metres (10 feet) high; as a potted plant in
northern areas it rarely grows beyond 1 meter. What appear to be petals
are actually coloured leaflike bracts that surround a central cluster
of tiny yellow flowers. A milky latex in the stems and leaves can be
irritating to persons or animals sensitive to it, but the claim that
poinsettias are deadly poisonous is greatly exaggerated.