Home » Plants & Animals » Perennials » Euphorbias: Nice to Look at

Euphorbias: Nice to Look at

© Jojo Sigurgeirson

Euphorbias; nice to look at, easy to grow, useful in landscaping, deer and pest resistant, interesting in containers and mixing nicely with many styles of gardening, quite hardy in terms of minimum temperatures, but terrible to touch.

Euphorbias have many common names, often ending in 'Spurge', but some refer to their histories of contacts with humans. Euphorbia helioscopia, a is also known as Madwoman's milk. There must be some incredible story behind that name.

Euphorbia ipecacuanhae is a very effective purgative, concentrated into bottles and sold as Syrum of Ipecac. Another property in this plant causes hallucinations. Unfortunatly the two don't work together too well.

Euphorbias come in many shapes, sizes and colours. Most of the garden hybrids are herbaceous perennials, the larger and hardier species keeping some leaves and wood over the winter, resembling more of a shrub but still being classified as a perennial.

Some wonderful varieties exist. Euphorbia characias 'Wulfeni' is very popular. It bears lime green flowers, silvery-grey leaves and can grow to 6 feet tall. Euphorbia 'Chameleon' is more dainty, sprawling upright and sideways to about 2 feet tall, with burgundy leaves and burgundy flowers with maroon and lime highlights. Euphorbia polyphylla is the hardiest of them all, forming cushions of bright yellow flowers in the spring.

This year I have started Euphorbia heterophylla from seed. They are now about 1 foot tall, not anywhere near the size of Gays in Tasmania. They are also called the Japanese Poinsettia. I will fish out a link to her photo and leave it in the dicussion area.

For some really stunning pictures of all these species and varieties, see the Vascular Plant Image Gallery listing for Euphorbia

The crown-of-thorns cactus is a type of Euphorbia, and there are many cacti in this genus of plants, including E. candelabrum, pictured above at right.

Poinsettias are also Euphorbs.

The forms of these plants vary widely, but something that Euphorbias all have in common is the biology of their flowers. Look up close.

DANGER: TOXIC PLANT WARNING Up until a few months ago I had no problem with touching Euphorbias. I was totally immune to the itchy rash they can cause. However, the toxin must have built up in me over time because now I am highly allergic to them. Thymeleaf Sandmat (Euphorbia serpyllifolia is a weed in the nursery that I work at. Everyday contact with its sappy stems set off my allergic reaction to the rest of the Euphorbias in my care there.

The copyright of the article Euphorbias: Nice to Look at in Perennials is owned by Jojo Sigurgeirson. Permission to republish Euphorbias: Nice to Look at in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.