venenifica, venenifica ................... venenifica

Mike,
Make sure you give those Euphorbs plenty of light, any shade and they'll start reaching.

Correct! Moringa is a great pachycaul tree, what species did you get? If you want size bed them out for the growing season and dig up after they go dormant. Those 4-6mo of free root run will be extraordinary!

Wow! Those are pretty spectacular. The E. venenifica is just huge... I looked through my Euphorbia journals, and this was all I could come up with for the species. From Volume7, Page 156:

"One of the triumvirate of species that are commonly confused with one another, E venenifica is probably the least common of the trio, the other two similar species are E. unispina and E. poissoinii, both of which have been illustrated in previous volumes of the Euphorbia Journals. E. venenifica is a striking species from West Africa, particularly the Ivory Coast. In habitat, it forms a succulent shrub 1-2m high, branching basally. Stems are cylindrical, 2-3cm in diamter, with tubercles arranged in many spiraled rows. Spines are solitary (two fused), about 1cm long, and bear no spine shield. The remarkably beautiful leaves are clustered at the branch tips; they are ablanceolate, triangular, or notched at the tips, often with an apiculus in the notch. Leaves are 4.5-7cm long and 1.8-3cm accross, with a winged petiole.
In cultivation, E. venenifica requires no special considerations other than protection from cold; it is, however, a fairly slow growing species. Like both E. poissonii and E. unispina, E. venenifica can be propagated by either seed or cuttings, although rooting vuttings can be a slow, nerve-wracking process."

You guys are great! Thanks for the info.
caudex1 - I have no idea what species the Moringa is. About all the grower knows is that it forms a bottle shaped trunk. (Thanks for the correct spelling). No room in the house for a tree!

joscience - I found a book reveiw site for "African Ethnobotany" By Hans Dieter Neuwinger. Really great info and a few of the Euphorbia pages are available for reveiw. Fascinating info about these plants and their uses as fish poison, poison arrows and murder concoctions! Also gives gruesome details of how Africans use Euphorbia venenifica as truth serums. You survive drinking it and walking over some magical tree roots and you are innocent. Do a Google book search for this. Also mentions mixing Adenium obeseum and E. unispina latex for a special arrow poison to hunt monkeys with. Gee, all I want is a pretty and unusual plant to admire. :-)

Hi Mike,
I can only add that E. venenifica is more cold sensitive than E. unispina. My plants lost their apex during the freeze in January last year, while the E. unispina were not harmed at all.
In the Euphorbia Journal they obviously forgot to mention the forth even slower and rarer species of this group: Euphorbia sapinii
{{gwi:639009}}

Jordi