Euphorbia neriifolia (Indian spurge tree)

Japanese name: キリン角
Scientific name: Euphorbia neriifolia

[Overview]
In its native habitat, an evergreen shrub to small tree 2–6 m tall, found in dry rocky areas.
It has a thick trunk.
The branches are green and have 5 spiraling ridges.
Leaves are simple and alternate, clustered at the branch tips in a whorl-like arrangement, oblanceolate, 5–30 cm long and 1.5–7.5 cm wide, with entire margins.
At the base of each leaf is a pair of black to brown spines about 1–4 mm long.
The flowers are held in cyathia 6–15 mm across and have no perianth.
The bracts enclosing the flowers are red.
The fruit is a globose capsule 3–12 mm in diameter.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
For cuttings, wash the milky white latex off the cut surface immediately with water or soak it in water, let the cut surface dry, and then insert the cutting.
The larger the cut surface, the harder it is to root.
It is weak against cold, so bring it indoors to a windowsill in winter.
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil.
Avoid direct sunlight in summer and move it to bright shade.
In poor sunlight it becomes leggy.
From spring to autumn, water thoroughly only after the soil has dried completely all the way through the pot; when the temperature begins to fall, gradually reduce the frequency, and in winter water about once a month so that it does not become too dry, keeping it nearly dry.
It tolerates dryness well.
Too much fertilizer makes it leggy, so use it sparingly: apply a small amount of fertilizer at planting, or give a small amount of diluted liquid fertilizer in summer.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
Many fasciated forms are on the market.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)