Euphorbia pulcherrima

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

  • Botanical Name : Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. Ex Klotzsch
  • Synonyms : Poinsettia pulcherrima (Willd. ex Klotzsch) Graham
  • Common Name : Lalpatti, Poinsettia, Christmas Flower, Lobster Flower
  • Plant Family : Euphorbiaceae
  • Plant Form : Shrub
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 21, 23
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra

About Euphorbia pulcherrima Plant :

  • Habit : A small, much-branched shrub with milky latex.
  • Leaves :
    • Alternate, ovate-lanceolate, entire or lobed with 1-2 blunt teeth on either side, acuminate, smooth, midrib and petiole reddish-brown.
    • The uppermost floral leaves (bracts) are opposite, usually red or pink, serving as petaloid bracts for attraction.
  • Flowers :
    • Flowers in terminal groups of cyathia on stout peduncles.
    • Involucre green with red fringed top, cup-like, 5-ribbed, glands compressed, large yellow-orange.
    • Inside the cyathium there are many male flowers; some male sterile flowersand one stalked female flower.
    • The male flower consists of a single stamen, filament jointed to the pedicle, there are no perianth leaves.
    • The sterile male flowers consist of hairy filaments with red tips.
    • The female flower is on a long stalk (gynophore) with trilocular ovary, styles 3 which are red and jointed and then each divide into 2 stigmatic lobes.
    • The female flower develops after sometime.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : December - February
  • Significance : Cultivated in the gardens everywhere.