No, Virginia, there really aren't any poisonous poinsettias.

I love the weekly Science Times feature "The Claim" - in Tuesday's column, they considered the common claim that poinsettas are poisonous [New York Times online, login required]. Despite what we often hear, no, they're not. (But they could make your dog a little sick to his stomach if he munched on them.)

Historical tidbit. These flowers are native to Mexico: They were introduced in the United States by Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.