Euphorbia filiflora branched stems

The main stem or group of primary stems of Euphorbia filiflora will branch in the upper parts with age. Each branch, angled slightly up and outwards, is in appearance a smaller version of the main stem with tubercles and usually long, narrow stem-tip leaves.

Some sturdy flower peduncles (stalks) can be detected among the leaves. They grow from the axils or seams between upper tubercles, whereas the leaves grow from the central tips of the tubercles. E. filiflora bears its cyathia on these long stalks that persist after flowering.

The conspicuous floral feature of the species is the ring of five flat, spreading glands around the inner parts of each flower. These glands are dark green, tipped with three to six finger-like protrusions or “processes”, beige in colour and spreading thinly from the upper margins of the glands (Frandsen, 2017; Williamson, 2010; iNaturalist).