Crown of Thorns – Euphorbia milii

Euphorbia milii

Euphorbia milii is a succulent, heavily-branched, woody shrub with a lot sharp-spiny-thorns covering its stems and branches. Euphorbia milii are native to Madagascar and it is widely grown all over the world for its beautiful year-round flowers and low maintenance.

In our area (Southern India), this plant is considered to be a vastu plant category (lucky plant), so it is gaining its popularity rapidly among the gardeners. Most houses keep this plant in front of their doors to make them visible to all.

Euphorbia milii belongs to spurge family(same as Poinsettia Flower), which are characterized by the milky sap they produce and the conspicuous bracts that typically surrounds the actual tiny flowers which we perceive as flowers. Hence in Euphorbia milii plants, what we see as colorful flowers are not actual flowers but it is what give them real appeal. We will call them as flowers for the sake of simplicity in this article.

Close up of Euphorbia milii Flower

Euphorbia milii flowers are of striking beauty with colors ranging from red, pink, yellow, salmon, coral etc., while hybrids come in with a combination of these or more colors and sizes. These hardy plants can withstand heat and can go on without water for many days. If you are looking for a low-maintenance annual flowering plant, then Euphorbia milii is the best garden plant and it is the best choice for the busy people…

The common name “Crown of  Thorns” or “Christ Thorn” or “Christ Plant” comes from the century old legend relating this plant’s thorns to the “crown of thorns” worn by Jesus.

Note:

This Euphorbia milii plant produces a sap(white milky liquid) in abundance and it is moderately poisonous. Hence it is very dangerous to come in contact with the white milky substance. 

We have these plants in our garden for many years from now, and we never become tired of looking after these plants. Usually these flowers bloom in clusters that too at the tip of the branches surrounded by fresh green oval-shaped leaves. Individual flower is subtended(extends under the flower) by a pair of petal-like Bracts (modified leaves) which adds a mysterious beauty to these flowers.

Close up of Euphorbia milii flowers

The sizes of these flowers and leaves vary with different types of this kind. In our home, we keep three varieties of this plants. One is a Euphorbia milii dwarf variety with very small leaves and flowers in which we have two colors red and yellow. Second one is with medium size flowers and leaves. We have red, pink and coral colors in that variety. Third one is a relatively large variety with larger flowers and leaves. Here in this variety, we have coral to salmon colored flowers. Lets look at the pictures below to see the details.

Euphorbia milii dwarf  (or) mini – Kiss Me Not Flowers

Euphorbia milii dwarf  (or) mini – Red

Euphorbia milii – Dwarf (or) mini Yellow Kiss Me Not Flowers

Euphorbia milii – Medium Red Flowers

Euphorbia milii – Medium Pink Flowers

Euphorbia milii – Medium Yellow Flowers

Euphorbia milii – Large Flowers

Euphorbia milii – Large Flowers

Common Name: Crown of Thorns, Christ Plant, Christ Thorn, Christ cactus, Siamese lucky plant, Euphorbia, Madagascar spurge, sometimes, dwarf flowers are called as Kiss-Me-Not.

[In Tamil(தமிழ்): Kreeda Kalli, கிரீட கள்ளி]

Botanical Name: Euphorbia milii

Alternative Botanical Names: 

• Euphorbia splendens
• Euphorbia milii var. splendens

Family: Euphorbiaceae (spurge family)

More Euphorbia milii Pictures: Photo Gallery

I always keep clicking at these flowers at my garden, as a result, I have a huge collection of these flower photos, from which I’m including some of my best shots. Move your mouse over thumbnails and click on the individual thumbnail to see a particular photo.