Euphorbia milii
| Euphorbia milii | ||||||||||||||
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| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
 Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1) | ||||||||||||||
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| Euphorbia milii Desmoul. |
Euphorbia milii (Crown-of-thorns or Christ Plant) is a species of Euphorbia native to Madagascar.
It is a succulent climbing shrub growing to 1.8 m tall, with densely spiny stems, the straight, slender spines up to 3 cm long, which help it scramble over other plants. The leaves are obovate, up to 3.5 cm long and 1.5 cm broad. The flowers are small, subtended by a pair of conspicuous petal-like bracts, variably red, pink or white, up to 12 mm broad.[1]
Varieties
It is a variable species, and several varieties have been described; some of these are treated as distinct species by some authors.[1]
- Euphorbia milii var. bevilaniensis (Croizat) Ursch & Leandri 1955
- Euphorbia milii var. hislopii (N.E.Br.) Ursch & Leandri 1955 (syn. E. hislopii)
- Euphorbia milii var. imperatae (Leandri) Ursch & Leandri 1955
- Euphorbia milii var. longifolia Rauh 1967
- Euphorbia milii var. milii
- Euphorbia milii var. roseana Marn.-Lap. 1962
- Euphorbia milii var. splendens (Bojer ex Hook.) Ursch & Leandri 1955
- Euphorbia milii var. tananarivae (Leandri) Ursch & Leandri 1955
- Euphorbia milii var. tenuispina Rauh & Razaf. 1991
- Euphorbia milii var. tulearensis Ursch & Leandri 1955
- Euphorbia milii var. vulcanii (Leandri) Ursch & Leandri 1955
Trivia
Wat Phrik in the Phitsanulok District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand claims to be the home of the world's tallest Christ plant. [2]
References
- a b Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. ISBN 0-333-47494-5
- ThaiTambon.com
 Euphorbia milii var. splendens |
 Euphorbia milii var. vulcanii |
 Euphorbia milii |
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Euphorbia milii". Image Credit.
