Euphorbia breviarticulata Pax
Euphorbia breviarticulata is a bit unusual, as nearly as I can tell, because it doesn’t appear to have a common name, at least not in English. It is native to Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It is not found in the wild in North America, though it is cultivated as a house plant.
Plants: Heavily branched succulent cactus-like shrubs are 3- or 4-angled, with deeply winged erect, spreading branches. They are 5–16′ (1.5–5 m) high. Branches are bluish green, often densely streaked with yellow-green, with regular severe constrictions. Wings on branches are wavy, and ridged with thorn pairs up to 3″ (8 cm) long.
Leaves: Tiny, fleshy leaves are deltoid, and 1/32″ (1.5 mm) long. They drop off quickly.
Flowers: Cyathia are up to ¼″ (9 mm) in size. Glands are ⅛″ (4 mm) broad, and golden yellow.
Fruits: Deeply 3-lobed, green, then reddening capsules that contain pale grey seeds. They are ¼ ⨉ ⅝″ (9 mm ⨉ 1.8 cm) in size.
Habitats: Sandy soils, silt, and coastal dune remnants in open or dense acacia-commiphora bushlands and thickets at elevations of 197–3937′ (60–1200 m).
Edibility: Poisonous 
. Toxic if ingested, and the
milky sap can cause a contact dermatitis.
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Similar euphorbias |
Online References:
Euphorbia breviarticulata var. breviarticulata
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (34 × 52 cm) 
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 12 × 16″ (29 × 39 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Malpighiales | A broad group encompassing 16,000 species |
| Family | Euphorbiaceae | Euphorbia or spurge family |
| Genus | Euphorbia | An extremely diverse-looking genus of mostly tropical and subtropical succulent plants. For Euphorbus, corpulent Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania. Literally, “euphorbia” means “well-fed” |
| Species | breviarticulata | From Latin, “furnished with short joints,” referring to the short branch segments |
Euphorbia breviarticulata description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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