Euphorbia cyparissias (cypress spurge, "Matsubatodai")

Japanese name: マツバトウダイ （松葉灯台）
Scientific name: Euphorbia cyparissias

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 20–60 cm tall.
White milky sap comes out when the stems or leaves are damaged.
It spreads in a mat by extending underground stems.
The leaves are simple and alternate, lanceolate, 4 cm long and 0.1–0.2 cm wide.
They turn red in autumn.
The leaves are borne in whorl-like clusters at the branch tips, and flowering branches radiate from there.
Flowering branches also emerge from the leaf axils in the upper part of the stem.
Ovate bracts are borne at the tips of the flowering branches, and a cyathium emerges from their center.
The flowers are enclosed in a yellowish-green, urn-shaped involucre and have no petals.
The glands on the inflorescence are yellow.
The fruit is a spherical capsule.

[History]
Naturalization was reported in Gunma in 1959, and it is found in Hokkaido and Honshu from the central part northward.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, by cuttings, or by root cuttings.
For cuttings, wash off the white milky sap by rinsing the cut end in water right away or soaking it in water, then let the cut end dry before inserting it.
It prefers a sunny, well-ventilated site with well-drained soil.
It likes lime, so mix magnesian lime into the soil.
Take care not to let it become too wet; for potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil dries from spring to autumn, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
It tolerates dryness well.
In spring and autumn, apply a small amount of slow-release fertilizer.
Pests and diseases include rust, powdery mildew and scale insects.

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