€15,90

📍 A truly captivating explosion of shapes and textures. Beautiful in either a pot or the ground, choose your favorite location! It forms a perennial cushion-shaped cluster.

🌱 Morphology
It looks like a small tangle of branches that got trapped between the cracks of a granite rock. Numerous greenish-gray stems multiply from the base, forming a compact pad in which the very fine spines, initially reddish and later almost black, draw dark lines over the ribs. It is a small Euphorbia, but its densely branched architecture gives it a much greater presence than one would expect from its size.

It is a perennial succulent, densely branched from the base, with branches that are initially somewhat decumbent or erect, reaching up to about 30 cm in height. The stems are cylindrical, greenish-gray, up to about 2 cm in diameter, and have 8–10 longitudinal ribs, without teeth. The spines appear in pairs on small, elongated shields; they are very fine, up to 1 cm long, reddish when young and progressively black with age. Small secondary prickles are absent or very poorly developed. The leaves are tiny, triangular, approximately 1 × 0.7 mm; some may remain on the stem and harden to form a small, sharp structure.

🌍 Distribution, habitat and family
It is an endemic species of Kenya, known from a very restricted locality in mountainous areas, where it grows on exposed granite surfaces, taking advantage of small pockets of soil and rock crevices, at around 1,700 m altitude. It belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. Kew currently recognizes it as an accepted species. Information from the Flora of Tropical East Africa notes that the known material comes from a very restricted type locality and its cultivated clones. A recent extinction risk assessment predicts that it could be threatened.

❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 10b–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of down to 1 ºC occasionally, provided it is kept completely dry, acclimatized, and protected from humidity. Although it comes from a mountainous area, cultivation sources consider it sensitive to cold and not suitable for remaining exposed to frost. In Madrid, it is recommended to protect it especially during cold winter nights.

☀️ Lighting
It requires very intense lighting, with an approximate goal of 18–25 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR during active growth. It tolerates direct sun after progressive acclimatization, although it can also be grown with very intense light and some protection during the hours of maximum radiation. Adequate lighting promotes compact branching and maintains the greenish-gray coloration of the stems.

💧 Growth cycle and irrigation
Winter rest. During the growth period, it is recommended to water abundantly and let the substrate dry completely before watering again. As temperatures drop in autumn, watering should be reduced progressively until keeping it practically dry during winter. In spring, watering is resumed gradually as temperatures rise and active growth begins.

🌸 Flowering
It produces small cyathia of approximately 2 × 3.5 mm, gathered in solitary and slightly bifurcated inflorescences. The nectar glands are yellow, transversely elliptical, and practically touch each other. The fruits are reddish, deeply trilobed capsules, about 2.5 × 4 mm, appearing on reflexed pedicels up to 3 mm.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer specific for succulents is recommended, with high content of assimilable calcium, such as Desert CHOICE® Succulents, applied once a month when watering.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot and with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi.

S -> 9cm x 9cm

M-> 14cm x 14 cm

L->16cm x 16 cm

* As this is an online purchase, the appearance of the sent specimen may vary slightly from the product image. The measurements of the plant are specified in the photo description, but this may also vary slightly, because it is a living being! Each of the Desert CITY plants has unique characteristics.

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