Cucumber Cactus - Euphorbia obesa - A Strange Plant Review
Euphorbia obesa is a peculiar dwarf succulent plant that resembles a stone. It can grow to 8" in height with a diameter of 4". It is a single-stemmed, unbranched, firm-bodied plant. The stem is usually 8-angled and grooved. Younger plants have a rounded sea urchin-like shape. The rotund stem is mottled grey-green in colour with dull purple transverse bands.
Euphorbia obesa is a rare endemic of the Great Karoo, south of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. Over-collecting by collectors and plant exporters almost resulted in the plant becoming extinct in the wild. Today it is protected by national (Nature Conservation) and international (CITES) legislation. The plants occur in karoo vegetation among Beaufort shale fragments, where they grow in full sun or in the partial shade provided by dwarf karoo shrubs. They are very well camouflaged and difficult to see.
Professor Peter Macowan (1830-1909), a botanist from Gill College in Somerset East, discovered Euphorbia obesa near Graaff-Reinet in 1897. He collected this peculiar ball shaped succulent plant and sent it to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. It flowered in their succulent house in 1899 when a description was drawn up and the plant named by Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911). Today it is one of the most sought after succulent plants of South Africa. Read more...
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