Euphorbia obesa plants

Euphorbia obesa plants. The plants on offer are very healthy seedlings, 1cm in diameter.

Euphorbia obesa is a peculiar, almost ball shaped dwarf succulent plant that resembles a stone. It can grow to 20 cm in height with a diameter of 9 cm. It is a single-stemmed, unbranched, firm-bodied plant. The stem is usually 8-angled and grooved, subglobose (almost spherical) in shape, elongating and becoming cylindric as it gets older. Younger plants have a rounded sea urchin-like shape. The rotund stem is mottled grey-green in colour with dull purple transverse bands. It has a tapering tap root. The leaves are very rudimentary and soon drop off. Euphorbia obesa is dioecious, i.e. male and female flowers occur on different plants.

Euphorbia obesa is a rare endemic of the Great Karoo, south of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. Over-collecting by collectors and plant exporters almost resulted in the plant becoming extinct in the wild. Today it is protected by national (Nature Conservation) and international (CITES) legislation. The plants occur in karoo vegetation among Beaufort shale fragments, where they grow in full sun or in the partial shade provided by dwarf karoo shrubs. They are very well camouflaged and difficult to see. The habitat is very stony and hilly with summer rainfall ranging from 200-300 mm per annum, falling mainly in thunder showers. Summers are very hot: the average daily maximum about 26 degrees centigrade and the minimum about 11 degrees centigrade. Light frost occurs during the winter months.