Flower Photography: Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)


Euphorbia milii (Crown-of-thorns or Christ Plant) is a woody, succulent species of Euphorbia native to Madagascar. The species name commemorates Baron Milius, once governor of Réunion, who introduced the species to France in 1821. It is suspected that the species was introduced to the Middle East in ancient times, and legend associates it with the crown of thorns worn by Jesus.

It is a succulent climbing shrub growing to 1.8m tall, with densely spiny stems, the straight, slender spines up to 3 cm long, which help it scramble over other plants. The leaves are found mainly on new growth, and are obovate, up to 3.5 cm long and 1.5 cm broad. The flowers are small, subtended by a pair of conspicuous petal-like bracts, variably red, pink or white, up to 12 mm broad. The sap is moderately poisonous. Wat Phrik in the Phitsanulok District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand claims to be the home of the world's tallest Christ plant. ~ wikipedia

21 Comments Categories:

21 comments:

  1. betchai29 November 2011 at 13:50

    beautiful shot as always Che, I love this plant, so easy to grow. and seems to be blooming all year long too. But I think my plant at home may be the smallest variety :) they do not grow huge as what I see in most parks :) But I do not mind as long as it gives me plenty of red flowers :)

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  2. Robin29 November 2011 at 15:28

    It's beautiful. Lovely shot.

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  3. fredamans29 November 2011 at 20:24

    Gorgeous blooms!

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  4. Liz30 November 2011 at 01:58

    Simply beautiful.

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  5. Icy BC30 November 2011 at 22:24

    I saw this plant in the Conservatory here but not known what it was. Thanks for the info, Cher.

    Gorgeous shot!

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  6. Leah H.1 December 2011 at 02:31

    Like these flowers, they look so cute..

    Visiting for Ruby Tuesday! Hope you can visit mine too:)

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    http://www.loveablecassandra.com/2011/11/red-tea-set.html

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  7. Karen @ Pieces of Contentment2 December 2011 at 13:49

    The colours are amazing! Lovely photo.

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  8. Tootsie2 December 2011 at 14:23

    I thank you so much for linking in this week. It is an honor to host Friday's Flaunt and meet new friends and visit the regulars (who are like old friends) who share. I am always excited to tour each post and see the different flowers/ projects and garden art that everyone flaunts. It is a pleasure to tour and see all the gorgeous blooms...and I appreciate each and every link and comment! I have shared your post today with my facebook page for Tootsie Time. I hope you will link in again soon!
    (¯`v´¯)
    `*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
    ¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

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  9. Carole M.2 December 2011 at 15:07

    beautiful Crown of Thorns; lovely colour impact; great photo.

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  10. Andrea2 December 2011 at 17:00

    That is lovely, we have a lot of colors of those too!

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  11. BernieH2 December 2011 at 18:06

    Love the colour of this Crown Of Thorns!

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  12. Darla2 December 2011 at 20:54

    Mine is containerized and now in the greenhouse, fingers crossed it makes it through the winter!

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  13. Joyful3 December 2011 at 04:33

    Very nice!

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  14. Jean Campbell3 December 2011 at 11:40

    I only knew it as Crown of Thorns. It was one of my mother's favorites to grow.

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  15. Unknown3 December 2011 at 14:15

    Beautiful photo..

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  16. Tina´s PicStory3 December 2011 at 16:14

    thanks for joining us with your beautiful thorns :)

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  17. Unknown4 December 2011 at 05:03

    what a beautiul capture!

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  18. Linda4 December 2011 at 11:06

    so very beautiful!!! :)

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  19. Zenserly5 December 2011 at 21:31

    I was a Euphorbia fanatic haha, dreamt of them at night...bought several hehe, they're still blooming at my mom's home...

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  20. ★Carol★28 March 2012 at 10:09

    I have a euphorbia, but it gets yellow flowers, not these gorgeous red ones. Beautiful shot!
    Happy REDnesday,
    Carol

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  21. LV28 March 2012 at 10:17

    I dearly love and enjoy seeing all flowers. I do not recall seeing one of these. It probably would not live here, but wish I had one. Very pretty.

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