Euphorbia stellaspina . . .

Anything relating to Succulents that doesn't fit in another category should be posted under General.
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Cereusly
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Euphorbia stellaspina . . .

Post by Cereusly »

. . . with new growth today. A very slow growing plant. Cereusly, Tony

Euphorbia stellaspina (10-26-2011)

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cruaux
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Post by cruaux »

But very, very pretty.
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lancer99
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Post by lancer99 »

Annoying, isn't it? It wants to grow at the wrong time of the year!

Tony, I hope you don't mine a slight thread hijack. This is mine, which I think has produced a schizophrenic offset. The offset doesn't produce many spines, but the few that it does are huge (~ 2cm).



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Cheers,
-R
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Melt In The Sun
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Post by Melt In The Sun »

How much light are you two giving these?
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lancer99
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Post by lancer99 »

MitS, mine gets full sun during the summer, and has pride of place next to the glass in my sunroom over the winter.

Why do you ask?

-R
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amanzed
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I love E stellaspina

Post by amanzed »

I love Euphorbia stellaspina. Mine is slowly growing. It has some rusty discoloration on the lower part of the (single) stem, but otherwise seems to be doing well and grows a little each of the 3 years I've had it. Bought it web-order from GoSucculent, then owned by plantsman Don Nuzzo who unfortunately died much too young shortly thereafter.
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Melt In The Sun
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Post by Melt In The Sun »

Lancer,
I asked cause I've been lately wondering if all these thorns form in response to sun exposure. While it's not E. stellaspina, I definitely saw a huge increase in thorn growth when moving this E. horrida hybrid into more sun. You can see the bare area from when it was in part sun, then the flush of new red thorns at the top.

Image

Definitely a yearly cycle; related to peak summer sun?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/174681
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nachtkrabb
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Post by nachtkrabb »

Hey, is that an Euphorbia punkera?!
Ruth :lol:
Love and Revolution!
...and still more cacti.
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lancer99
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Post by lancer99 »

Hijacking Tony's thread even more.

Melt, E. stellispina, E. horrida and relatives are peduncular-spined species, and their spine growth depends mostly on where they are in their annual growth cycle. Increased spine growth after moving it into sun may just be a coincidence. Lack of spines doesn't mean anything bad either....in any case, your plant looks happy.

To be a bit pedantic, the Botanical Gods have declared that "ae" is no longer a valid combination, so what was described as E. "stellaespina" is now spelled E. "stellispina."

-R
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Melt In The Sun
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Post by Melt In The Sun »

Thanks Lancer. I think the timing was just a little too cute to be coincidental. Now I just need to pick up an E. stellispina so i can compare apples to apples... :D
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lancer99
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Post by lancer99 »

Just to be a little more pedantic/explanatory.

The peduncular-spined species produce two types of spines (or thorns, or whatever you prefer to call them.)

The first are "true" peduncles (flower stems). At the end of the peduncles they'll produce cyathia and flowers.

Second are "non-productive" (I made that term up) peduncles, which never produce cyathia/flowers. There's a common misconception that this type of peduncle would produce flowers with better growing conditions, but that's incorrect. They are just a different type of spines/thorns that euphorbias have developed.

True peduncles detach much more easily from the plant than the other kind, so the irony (of sorts) is that if your plant blooms a lot, you're more likely to end up with a plant with fewer spines :)

Aren't euphorbias fun?!?

-R
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