GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Some new treats are available for the holidays, but don’t look for them in the candy aisle or bakery — try the florist instead.

These indulgences are eye candy, with names like Christmas Cookie, Santa Claus Candy, Peppermint, Champagne and Plum Pudding. The food-themed names belong to several new varieties of poinsettia developed this year.

University of Florida environmental horticulturist James Barrett said companies in California and Germany that developed the roughly two dozen new strains of poinsettias for this year are responsible for naming the new varieties.

“All the Christmas names related to food are fairly interesting and new for poinsettias because we haven’t had those types of names before,” said Barrett, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. [ read more ]

Source: http://news.ufl.edu

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