PlantFiles: Euphorbia
Euphorbia caracasana

I brought a small branch about 7 inches long from a grown Euphorbia caracasana, from Caracas -Venezuela- about seven years ago.
Planted the brach in our back yard (upsidedown) and even so, the branch started to grow leaves and roots in less than a couple of weeks. It's a very fast grown shrub; lovely in the summer. It grows wild everywhere in the Caracas area. I believe it 's got the name for that particular spot.
It has lovely bright red-cardenal leaves and small yellow flowers.
It gets "sad" or dormand in winter, although in South Florida there's no such a thing as cold weather. She loves sun and warmth.
The milky substance that comes when a branch/leave is broken, is quite harmfull to some skins (not mine). My wife
is very allergic to it, causing burning blemishes that hurt a lot.

You can cut small branches (5-7 " long) and put them on any fertile soil and it'll grow beautifully.

In Spring or summer some green juicy worms attack the leaves (2" long and a pinkie in diameter). Should you know a good cajun recipe for those worms... please share it!

Cook those worms!

Enjoy your plants

The leaves will get the darker shade when in full sun. When it is kept continuously under shade for a considerable period, the newer growth will have greener leaves which will turn to that red if moved to full sun for a few days. The reddish leaves at the bottom and the greener growth at the top makes it a good sight, esp. against a contrasting background. Easy to maintain this plant.

I am not sure about the species name of this plant, but it IS a Euphorbia species. This genus is one of the most diverse in the plant kingdom. This plant is somewhat related to the common Poinsettia, ALSO a Euphorbia species. It doesn't have to look like a succulent to be a Euphorbia. It has more to do with the floral anatomy and biology.

By the way, all Euphorbias have poisonous sap, but the poison properties vary a LOT from species to species. Poinsettias, for example, are commonly blamed for poisoning dogs and cats, but I can tell you as a veterinarian that this is not a very poisonous plant- only irritating to the mucosal tissues. Some Euphorbias are very poisonous, by the way.

I don't have Euphorbia on my property, but I do like the look of the foilage on the shrub that's posted at the Database & would be very interested to know more about it. Purple Spurge looks similar to the plant pictured here.

I have grown Euphorbia for a number of years. There are a number of varieties. Mine has a lovely lime yellow colour in the spring. It seems to keep a wonderful rounded mound form. Personally, I think the only drawback to this plant is that it reseeds. The few new plants can be dug out and given away. I would not call it invasive.

interesting looking plant. be nice if we knew more about it.

Beautiful shrub... but I got some serious allergy to its latex, so I never come too close to it :^/

There you go, all I know about this plant is there. Be aware that they grow it here in Rio de Janeiro, so I guess it requires hot temperatures