Cutflower Nomenclature

Scientific/Botanical Name:

Genus: Euphorbia

Specie: E. tirucalli

Variety/Cultivar:

English Name:

 

Common Name:

Firestick Plants, Indian Tree Spurge, Naked Lady, Pencil Tree, Sticks on Fire or Milk Bush

Botanical Family:

Name in Latin: Euphorbiaceae

Name in English: Spurge family

The Plant

Origin: Africa

Growth Habit: The branches are cylindrical, smooth and glabrous-green, 5-8 mm in diameter, forming brush-like masses that are the best known feature of this species. Plants are without spines,The rubber-hedge euphorbia is a many-branched, succulent plant, it is a a hydrocarbon plant

Flower:The flowers are yellow, inconspicuous, and carried in clusters at the apex of the short branches or in the angles of branches.

Blooming Period: September to December

Leaf: The leaves are small and slender, up to 12 x 1.5 mm, rarely seen, as they fall very early.

Usage:

houseplant, fuel, medicinal

Care and Handling

Soil: A well-drained succulent mix, with an ideal pH around 6.0 (slightly acidic).

Amount of water: Water during the summer and spring, making sure drainage is immaculate. Reduce water in the winter to monthly.

Nutrition: Feed with a controlled-release fertilizer in the beginning of the season or weekly with a weak liquid solution. Use a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer at 1/4 strength on mature plants, and a fertilizer with less nitrogen on young plants.

Special handling: The milky sap contained in this plant is extremely irritating to the skin and mucosa and possibly toxic.

Special feature/remarks:

Hydrocarbon plants or petroleum plants are plants which produce terpenoids as secondary metabolites in sufficient quantities to make it economically feasible to convert their dry mass to gasoline-like fuels.

Milk bush also has uses in traditional medicine in many cultures..