September 2022 – Euphorbia

Did you know?

Poinsettias are actually Euphorbias – E. pulcherrima.

Euphorbia is a very large genus with about 2,000 species of annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees and includes spiny cactus and showy perennials – they have it all covered!

Commonly known as spurges, the main characteristic of Euphorbias are the showy bracts. These are leaves modified to mimic flowers to help attract pollinators. The flower head is actually quite small with flowers being either male (just having a stamen) and females (just a pistil). 

With Euphorbias coming in all forms – covered in thorns E. milii a native of Madagascar; E. ‘Firesticks’ which gets a gorgeous winter colour; E. trigona which looks like a cactus and E. mauritanica which is a shrub to 1 metre covered in starry flowers to name but a few.

All Euphorbias share one thing in common – they have a milky white, latex-like poisonous sap which means they’re rarely attacked by insects and in our case kangaroos! 

As pictured above ‘Diamond Frost’ Euphorbia hypericifolia is widely grown for its toughness and ease of growing. It’s awesome to grow as a filler and also a wonderful contrast to other plants. It works well as a potted plant too.

Propagation:

Is through cuttings in spring or summer, but ensure the succulent species dry out and callous over and completely stop bleeding before placing them in barely damp sand, otherwise they will rot.