Euphorbia stellispina

Euphorbia stellispina, the sterretjienoors in Afrikaans or star euphorbia, forms clumps of spiny stems that my reach 70 cm in height. The star in the name comes from the star-shaped branching of the spines that can be observed in the photo.

The spines at the top of the stem produce the cyathia, the yellow, unisexual flowers that occur on separate plants. Spines occur on the vertical stem ridges. There are up to 16 of them.

Female flowers develop into trilocular seed capsules, consisting of three compartments, each holding one seed.

The plant grows in the Western and Northern Cape, from Namaqualand to the Karoo near Beaufort West and Willowmore.

Its habitat is Nama Karoo and succulent Karoo; stony shrubland slopes of dolerite. Whatever lives here in nature copes with a temperature range of -5? C to 45? C and low water requirements. The resilient species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).