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Euphorbia micracantha

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Photo by Brad Johnson.


The flowers by Frank Vincentz, Wikimedia.com.

Author: Pierre Edmond Boissier, 1860
Family:  EUPHORBIACEAE
Origin:  South-East South Africa
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Minimum - Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  6 Centimetres
Height:  20 (60) Centimetres
Flower:  Green / Brownish Red
Propagate:  Seeds/Cuttings
Names:  -
Synonyms:  -

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was described by Pierre Edmond Boissier in 1860. It is found in south-eastern South Africa, growing in grit or other well drained soil with little to some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to six centimetres in diameter, the crawling branches will reach for 60 centimetres. The flowers are green and brownish red. 

The genera name; Euphorbia dates back to the first century BC, where King Juba II of Mauritania used it in a reference to his doctor, Euphorbos, and that name was kept as a generic name by Carl von Linnaeus. The species name from the Greek: "with very small spines".