Euphorbia Species

This is a relatively commonly seen plant in collections about southern California, only most people don't know what it is- usually it is ...Read Moremisidentified as Euphorbia ammak, Euphorbia abbysinica or Euphorbia ingens. It is a spineless, very thin and very tall-growing 3 to 4 sided branching, gangly, columnar candellabra-like tree- bright green in coloration. It is relatively fast growing Euphorbia and it amazes me, as thin and gangly as it is, it can grow so tall and support its own weight. It sprouts leaves at certain times of the year (can't recall which)- long (3-5") tear-drop-shaped and very thin, pale green... only last a short time. This is not one of the cold-hardy Euphorbias- despite that, a number of fairly tall specimens can be found in southern California botanical gardens (though Huntington's probably got killed this Jan 07) from the weird freeze... it was completely browned by it).

It sometimes goes by the synonym Euphorbia obovalifolia.