Devil's backbone
തത്തമ്മ ച്ചെടിরাং চিতা
Pedilanthus tithymaloides
Kew's current name: Euphorbia tithymaloides L.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Little
- tall
- 1.8 m
- wide
- 46 cm
Euphorbiaceae
Also called Devil's Backbone, Christmas Candle, Devil's-backbone, Japanese Poinsettia, Redbird Cactus
Formerly Tithymalus tithymaloides
When it flowers
Flowers June to April in the tropics.
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
- ShrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Florida, Mexico to Trop. AmericaKew'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 3.0 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 30 cm to 61 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- RedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -6.7 °C (USDA zone 9a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- root
- acan-tele, comalpatli, majk tokot zoom
- Spanish
- candelilla, Itamo Real, Pítamo real
- Portuguese
- Sapatinho do Diabo
- Chinese
- 紅雀珊瑚, 銀龍, 红雀珊瑚
- French
- Doigts de Satan ou Doigts du Diable
- Russian
- Педилантус титималоидный
- Indonesian
- Pohon Sig-Sag
- Japanese
- ギンリュウ
- Chinese (China)
- 红雀珊瑚
- Thai
- แสยก
- Finnish
- mehipolvi
- Slovak
- mliečnik červenopohárikový
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, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- 3D model: Pedilanthus tithymaloides (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.