The Global: Poinsettia Forever stamp can be used to mail a 1-ounce letter to any country where First-Class Mail International service is available. As with all Global Forever stamps, this stamp will have a postage value equivalent to the price of the single-piece First-Class Mail International 1-ounce machineable letter in effect at the time of use. These stamps can also be used domestically.
The stamp art features a photo of a poinsettia, taken from above to capture the beauty of the green leaves, red bracts, and yellow flowers in the center of the plant.

Poinsettias are as much a part of the holidays as evergreens and mistletoe. Tens of millions of poinsettia plants are sold during the season.

The poinsettia originally hails from Mexico. The leaves that crown the end of each poinsettia stalk undergo a seasonal color change in December, turning from green to red. As Christianity spread across Mexico during the colonial era, this color change turned poinsettias into a popular Christmas decoration. The Mexicans call the plant florde la Nochebuena, or "Christmas Eve flower."

A Mexican folktale explains this name. Many years ago on Christmas Eve a poor girl sought a gift to offer to the Christ child. She realized, however, that she owned nothing beautiful enough to give the infant. She began to cry, but eventually her desire to pay tribute to the child overcame her shame. She plucked a branch of an ordinary green plant that grew beside the road and humbly brought it to the manger. As she laid it beside the crib the leaves of the plant burst into a brilliant red in recognition of the child's humility and Jesus' pleasure with the gift.

The poinsettia's popularity in the United States can be traced back to the initial interest of one man, Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett. Appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Dr. Poinsett also maintained an interest in botany. While stationed in Mexico in 1825 he noticed a plant whose ordinary green leaves turned a brilliant red in December. Intrigued by these tongues of fire he sent samples home to South Carolina where he maintained a greenhouse. Other horticulturists soon adopted the plant. Botanists named the plant Euphorbia pulcher-rima, but the public called it "poinsettia" in honor of the man who first imported it to the United States. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century New York shopkeepers were offering poinsettias at Christmas time. By the twentieth century Americans had fully adopted the plant as a Christmas symbol. The current popularity of the poinsettia as a Christmas decoration can be measured in numbers. In 2000 Americans bought more than 65 million of these potted plants.