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Monday, April 5, 2010

Question for the Hive Mind: Euphorbia NOID


Wondering if anybody knows of any Euphorbia species which have milii-like flowers like those above, but much larger. The flowers in the picture were maybe an inch, inch and a half (2.5 to 3.8 cm) across, and the stem looked less like Euphorbia milii and more like Pachypodium lamerei: sort of silvery-shiny, and a good inch and a half (3.8 cm, again) thick, with longer but sparser thorns than on the E. miliis I've seen. I didn't get any pictures of the stem, and am now wishing I had, but I'm hopeful someone will know anyway. Is this probably still a milii cultivar? Are there hybrid Euphorbias like what I've described?

It's probably too late for me to buy one (this was some time ago, at Frontier Garden Center in Cedar Rapids), but I'm curious about how variable of a species E. milii might actually be.

(EDITED because for some reason I am unable to remember that it's miLii, not miLLii.)
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5 comments:

  1. AraliaApril 5, 2010 at 3:47 AM

    In my plant the biggest flower at the moment is 3cm (1,2 inches) and the smallest flower 1,7cm (0,7 inches). In better conditions (no spider mites etc.) i believe it could do even better. Euphorbia milii has also many variations, which gives lots of material for breeding. (Euphorbia milii var. hislopii, Euphorbia milii var. roseana,
    Euphorbia milii var. splendens)

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  2. DonApril 5, 2010 at 5:42 AM

    I know there is a range of giant E. milii cultivars in commerce with huge flowers in a variety of colors, referred to as "Thai hybrids". One point of departure for online research: http://www.tropicanursery.com/euphorbia/story.htm

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  3. mr_subjunctiveApril 5, 2010 at 7:22 AM

    Aralia / Don:

    Huh. I did not know any of that. The milii varieties I've seen previously have all looked more like E. milii var. splendens, with thin, heavily-spined stems. This one looked a lot more like the pictures I found of E. milii var. hislopii.

    And that Tropica Nursery site is awesome. The one I saw could well be one of the Thai hybrids, especially given the unusual color.

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  4. PeterApril 5, 2010 at 10:28 AM

    Definitely one of the Thai hybrids. Very popular.

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  5. our friend BenApril 5, 2010 at 1:11 PM

    Fabulous plant, Mr. S.! Now I have to have one...

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