It’s the biggest I’ve ever seen!
One of my favorite plants is the pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli), specifically the “firesticks” variety. Mine looks like this:
Today at the property where I was doing a home inspection, I found the biggest one I’ve ever seen:
Other common names include pencil tree and milk bush.
Euphorbias are one of the largest and most diverse genus in the plant kingdom and includes your common Christmas poinsettia. Most, if not all, have a white, milky, sticky sap that can cause severe dermatitis in some people, including yours truly. (I judge the risk to be acceptable for the beauty the plant brings to my garden.) The sap is also used as a purgative or laxative although in higher doses it can cause severe diarrhea.
Euphorbia sap can also be deadly for our fine, furry, four-legged friends, so keep an eye on your pets if you have the plants on your property, especially at Christmas time. We don’t need a joyous holiday to turn into a tragic one.
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Posted on July 16, 2012, in Flora, Mother & Father Nature, Picture of the Moment and tagged cat deaths from poinsettias, dog deaths from poinsettias, euphorbia dermatitis, euphorbia tirucalli 'firesticks' pictures, poinsettia dermatitis. Bookmark the permalink. 21 Comments.
I love cacti, but I’ve never seen this one before. It’s beautiful.
$5.25
) >^..^<
I love the wonderful ways you catch all of the character of Zoey and your other vista’s through the lens of your camera!
“.”
Cat
Oh, Zoey the Cool Cat has character all right………lol
Holy pencil cactus….!!! That is, indeed, a giant one!
I feel so edumacated now!
Ooohh then my human won’t have one! Problem solved =^.^=
Thanks for the info!
That was rather a provocative title!
For some…………lol
Oh, how beautiful those are. Thanks so much for sharing the pictures I had never seen one of them before. Their colors are amazing.
I love viewing life from the view of your camera lens. I have never seen a milk bush before but I did know that poinsettias can be poisonous to our little kitties. Take care, BAM
I have a variety of euphorbia in my backyard garden and it is lovely throughout the year. But it is also very invasive, so I have to manage it more than I like to. I never seem to remember, though, to put on gloves when I’m yanking it up and the sap is not easy to get off. Fortunately, I’m not allergic to it.
Try GoJo or Goop. They are about the only hand cleaners that I’ve found to work quickly and easily on Euphorbia sap.
My granddaughter loves cactu, had to save the image for her. Oh yeah, she loooves cat’s also, had to save the stamp of Zoey.
Blessings – Maxi
Now Zoey the Cool Cat has a big head………lol
I really like their color, Russell. Really neat plant.
Wow, awesome. Looks like a salt water coral that I have seen.
Wow how beautiful…
Beautiful plant, but we should be carefully
Its a beautiful plant. I’m glad for the warning that it can be poisonous to our pets.
Beautiful red color to that variety. We had a ginormous green one in my yard in Miami when I was a kid. It was taller than the one in the photo, but it was kind of gangly in comparison. It was in our narrow side yard, and I remember running into it playing various hiding or running games and making it bleed. I can still remember the itch of it’s milky ‘blood’ on my skin too. I had great respect for that unusual entity in my yard. It seemed to have an alien presence to my childhood mind. I could never decide if I really ‘liked’ it, but I thought it was really interesting and cool, and it was kind of a curiosity to friends that visited our home.