Euphorbia Obesa

The plant above is in a 4" pot and has been in the collection for 5 years.

Euphorbia obesa is a peculiar, almost ball shaped dwarf succulent plant that resembles a stone. It can grow to 7" in height with a diameter of 3-4". It is a single-stemmed, unbranched, firm-bodied plant. The stem is usually 8-angled and grooved, subglobose (almost spherical) in shape, elongating and becoming cylindrical as it gets older. Younger plants have a rounded sea urchin-like shape. The rotund stem is mottled grey-green in color with dull purple transverse bands. The root system is a tapering tap root. The obesa is a subtropical succulent species of Euphorbia genus. It comes from South Africa, especially in the Cape Province. This plant is dioecious which means that it has only male or female flowers. In the wild, it is endangered because over-collection and poaching, because of its slow growth, and the fact that the pod contains only 2 to 3 seeds. However, it is widely cultivated in botanical gardens. Other names given to this wonderful interesting succulent are Baseball Plant, Sea Urchin, Golf Ball, Basketball, Living Baseball, Gingham, and Vetmensie. Like all other Euphorbias, one must be careful of the poisonous sap that this plant has.