August 12th 2026
[[ Incomplete ]]
Weather: 84F ⛅
Euphorbia venefica Trémaux ex Kotschy
I sowed around ten Euphorbia venefica in the summer of 2024. Six of them germinated. I gifted one of the seedlings to a friend at the San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society during our Holiday party in December 2025, which has left me with five seedlings. E. venefica is native to North-Eastern Africa in an arid to semi-arid tropical climate and form sprasaely branching trees over time. My seedlings are all leafing out fantastically with their veins becoming quite prominent. I likely should get them into some bigger pots to promote faster growth. At two years old, they're still a bit young and have yet to flower yet, but I hope to get some flowering in the upcoming year.
Euphorbia aff. polyantha
I received several plants of Euphorbia aff. polyantha in August of 2025. The "aff." or "affinis" taxonomic labels is utilized to indicate that the species seems to be related to, and many times ends up being, the actual species as is labeled. Maybe the collected plant material was found outside of known ranges, or didn't completely match the typical known forms. Either way, the E. aff. polyantha in my care, if E. polyantha, is a shrub occurring within a range of Ethiopia to Tanzania in tropical East Africa. The epithet "polyantha" meaning "many flowers" in Greek, I assume named for the fact that the species produces many cyathia within its cymes. My plants are currently in various stages of flower and some are beginning to develop seed pods. This will be my first time collecting seed from this plant and subsequently growing it from seed.
