Euphorbia stellata | Starry Euphorbia
€25,00
🌱 Morphology
It looks like a star that fell from the sky and decided to take root in a stone. From a thick caudex hidden underground, small stems emerge that spread radially across the ground, forming an almost perfect geometry. Its small size contrasts with the plant's sculptural strength: a tiny desert creature capable of turning a simple caudex into the center of an authentic vegetal star.
It is a geophytic and succulent Euphorbia, dwarf and glabrous, barely 2–15 cm tall. The main stem is tuberous, club-shaped, and subterranean, while the aerial stems are arranged in a spreading or slightly ascending rosette. These stems have 2 to 5 angles, are green and often mottled with purple, and reach approximately 1.5–15 cm in length and 0.8–1.5 cm in width. Small spines of about 2–4 mm appear on their margins. The leaves are extremely reduced, barely 1–2 mm.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is endemic to South Africa, specifically from the Eastern Cape province, from Uitenhage to the east of Peddie. It lives between 50 and 450 m of altitude, on stony plains and open clearings among dense thickets, within the Albany Thicket vegetation. It belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the South African Red List of Plants.
❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 9b–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of down to −4 ºC according to cultivation references that place it in USDA 9b, but its behavior in cultivation suggests greater caution: other specialized sources recommend keeping it above 5–10 ºC during dormancy. In any case, it must remain completely dry in low temperatures and be protected from prolonged frosts.
☀️ Lighting
During active growth, intense lighting is recommended, approximately 18–25 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR. It tolerates direct sun or bright partial shade, although the caudex must remain protected from excessive solar exposure when grown uncovered, as in nature it remains buried.
💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. During the active period, it is recommended to water abundantly and allow the substrate to dry out completely before watering again. With the arrival of dormancy, water intake is drastically reduced and it can be kept practically dry during the winter. Excess moisture around the caudex is especially dangerous and can cause rot.
🌸 Flowering
It produces small cyathia grouped in threes on the stems, approximately 2.5–4.5 mm in diameter. The floral glands can have red, yellow, or dark green shades. Flowering is concentrated mainly between late autumn and early winter in its natural habitat, especially in November and December.
🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a specific fertilizer for succulents with high assimilable calcium content, such as Desert CHOICE® Succulents, is recommended, applied once a month when watering.
This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a high-tech square pot and with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.
📏 Gourmet xerophyte in a 7x7x10 and 10x10x13 cm napiform pot.
* As this is an online purchase, the appearance of the specimen sent 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, after all, it is a living thing! Each Desert CITY plant has unique characteristics.
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