Euphorbia trigona 'Rubra' | Red Cathedral
€10,60
🌱 Morphology
It resembles botanical architecture carved in copper and red wine. Its stems, upright and perfectly geometric, rise to form a structure almost like a candelabra, while the green color of the original species is transformed here into bronze, purple-red, and burgundy tones. Among the small thorns, reddish leaves appear, which, during active growth, add even more color to this extraordinary living sculpture.
It is a shrubby succulent with an upright and highly branched growth habit, which can reach approximately 1.8 m in height in cultivation. The stems are fleshy, triangular or quadrangular in cross-section, with three or four prominent ridges and segments of about 10–25 cm. Small pairs of reddish or reddish-brown thorns, approximately 5–6 mm, appear on the ridges, from which the leaves emerge. The leaves are lanceolate to obovate, deciduous, and can take on magenta or deep red hues. The stems display green, bronze, purple, or reddish zones, often forming lighter-colored V-shaped patterns. It produces white latex.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is not an independent natural population, but a horticultural form of Euphorbia trigona. The species is native to central tropical Africa. It belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. The rubra form is maintained in cultivation for its characteristic reddish pigmentation.
❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to 7 ºC. It is a cold-sensitive Euphorbia and must be protected from frost; during winter, it is especially important to combine low temperatures with a dry substrate.
☀️ Lighting
During active growth, intense lighting is recommended, approximately 18–25 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR. Good light availability promotes the intensity of the reddish coloration, but specimens grown in shade should be gradually acclimated before being exposed to direct sun to prevent burning.
💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter rest. During the active period, it is recommended to water abundantly and allow the substrate to dry out completely before watering again. In autumn and winter, water supply should be gradually reduced and kept practically dry when temperatures are low. The leaves may fall during dormancy and reappear with new growth.
🌸 Flowering
Although it can produce small pale green cyathia in spring and summer, flowering is very rare in cultivation and lacks ornamental interest compared to the spectacular coloration and architecture of the stems.
🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer specific for succulents is recommended, with a high content of assimilable calcium, such as Desert CHOICE® Suculentas, 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 and biofungicides.
📏 The sizes of our basic collection xerophytes are as follows:
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 plants at Desert CITY has unique characteristics.
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