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Description
Very nice and distictive grey stemmed form. Deep maroon-purple flowers on the plant apex in late winter - early spring. Family: Euphorbiaceae Scientific name: Euphorbia submammillaris A. Berger ex Pax Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.
Possibly a form of E. fimbriata. Etymology: The specific epithet 'submammillaris' comes from the Latin 'sub-', meaning 'almost, more or less'; and for the similarity to Euphorbia mammillaris. Euphorbia submammillaris | |
Description: Perennial dwarf succulent shrub which may forms a dense 'cushion' of closely packed columns with a few spines. The clumps can be over 50 cm in diameter. | |
Cultivation: An easy-to-grow plant for pot culture. It grows well in a very draining mineral potting substrate, but it isn't picky about soil. It can be watered during the growing season, and enjoys average feeding and watering. When dormant in winter, keep it totally dry at at around 4°C. They need a lot of light to keep their compact growth-form. The plants that are not kept in full sun grow faster, but become untidy and may need support as they get larger. But one gets best colour if grown in full sun, where the chalk white stem of this low-growing clumping columnar plant has the best colour. It is also a prolific flowerer and makes a spectacular specimen. Propagation: It is propagated by cuttings or seeds. Its branches and offsets are readily available. If you remove an offset, remember to let it dry for a week or so, letting the wound heal (cuttings planted too soon easily rot before they can grow roots). It is better to wash the cut to remove the latex. The seed can be sown just under the surface in normal seedling trays, in a sandy seed mix. Germination usually occurs within 1 - 3 weeks. Warning: As with all other Euphorbias, when a plant get damaged it exudes a thick white milky sap known as latex. This latex is poisonous and may irritate skin, so pay extreme attention not to get any in your eyes or mouth. Cultivated plants must be handled carefully. |