Pencil cactus
ಕೋಲುಕಳ್ಳಿகொம்புக் கள்ளிసన్న జెముడు
Euphorbia tirucalli L.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Little
- tall
- 1.2 m
- wide
- 61 cm
Euphorbiaceae
Also called Fire Stick, Rubber Naboom, Rubber Milkbush, Hedge Euphorbia, Rubber-Hedge Euphorbia
Formerly Arthrothamnus tirucalli, Euphorbia geayi, Euphorbia laro, Euphorbia media, and 5 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Semisucculent shrub or treeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Desert or dry shrublandKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- MadagascarKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 61 cm to 1.8 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 30 cm to 91 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- YellowRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Coldest it survives
- 4.4 °C (USDA zone 11a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- German
- Bleistiftstrauch, Hecken-Euphorbie
- Indonesian
- Patah Tulang, Kayuurip
- Spanish
- Árbol africano de goma, Árbol de los dedos, Esqueleto
- French
- Euphorbe Crayon
- Chinese
- 綠珊瑚, 綠玉樹 光棍樹, 绿玉树
- Estonian
- kütus-piimalill
- Arabic
- صبار أم اللبن
- Russian
- Молочная тирукалли, Молочай тирукалли
- root
- mubambala, mulota, motsetse
- Japanese
- ミドリサンゴ, アオサンゴ
- Portuguese
- Aveloz, Dedeira
- Chinese (China)
- 光棍树, 绿玉树, 绿珊瑚
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Euphorbia tirucalli (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.