Euphorbia flanaganii (Medusa’s head)

Medusa’s head, Transkei Medusa’s head, Jellyfish Head Euphorbia, Medusahoved, Green Crown

I’ve always maintained that Euphorbia is a weird genus, since the species take such highly variable forms and the flowers are so odd. It also qualifies as having not one, but two species named after Medusa, the mythical Greek goddess with snakes for hair. This species, Transkei Medusa’s head, is native to the Arabian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, Madagascar, and South Africa. It is not found in North America, though it is cultivated as a house plant.

Plants: Emerging from a swollen underground stem, or caudex, snakelike branches with thornlike leaves spread from a central point, lying on the ground. Plants can reach up to 1′ (40 cm) in diameter.

Flowers: Clusters of yellow cyathia appear during the summer. Petal-like bracts are ⅛″ (6 mm) in size.

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	flanaganii	For Henry George Flanagan (1861-1919), South African-born plant collector

About plant names...