Euphorbia section Triacanthium Jacobsen

Euphorbia subgenus Euphorbia section tricanthium Jacobsen

In this article I want to present to you a group of related species close to Euphorbia triaculeata. These species have their natural habitat in North East Africa and the Arabian peninsula. They are characterized by a short thick main stem with many side branches, like the South African medusoid species. However this group of species possesses stipular spines, which are absent in the real medusoid species.

Euphorbia subgenus Euphorbia section tricanthium Jacobsen. Part 2

Euphorbia xylacantha Pax.

In literature Euphorbia xylacantha is not frequently encountered, though in nature she grows fairly common in Northern Somalia. Susan Carter (1992) writes that this species, even at the specialized growers, is rarely seen. Nowadays this beautiful species is more widely available for the interested collector.

Euphorbia awashensis M. Gilbert. Part 3

In 1992 as much as four species belonging to this group have been described, of which only Euphorbia awashensis has not by Susan Carter but by Mike Gilbert. This species is only known to grow on one single locality in the Awash National Park in Ethiopia.

Euphorbia Section Triacanthium Jacobsen. Part 4

After completion of the series of articles about this very interesting group of euphorbias the number of species has increased by at least three species. The careful reader could have noticed this is in no way a surprise to the writer and several times it was indicated that this was to be expected, and even now it is my opinion that the number of described species does not cover the situation in nature, as there are still many more to be discovered and several species are not fully understood.