EUPHORBIA ALFREDII

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Werner Rauh in 1987. It is found in the dry forests of northern Madagascar, growing in a well drained soil or even grit with some water and some sun. The caudex can grow to at least two centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to 50 centimetres in height. The flowers are greenish yellow, sometimes with a reddish shine.

The genera name; Euphorbia dates back to the first century BC, where King Juba II of Mauritania used it in a reference to his doctor, Euphorbos, and that name was kept as a generic name by Carl von Linnaeus. The species name after the German architect Alfred Blass 1913-1983, a specialist of Tillandsia Sure look like more than two centimetres thick. Photo by Urs Eggli. The leaves by Frank Vincentz, Wikipedia.org.