Species · genus Euphorbia · Euphorbiaceae

Devil's Backbone

Euphorbia tithymaloides L.

Also known as: Redbird Flower · Japanese Poinsettia · Milkbush · Redbird Cactus · Slipperplant

Growth habit

shrub

Native range

Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Florida, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.

Reference · E. tithymaloides

Cultivars of E. tithymaloides

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under E. tithymaloides yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A succulent shrub from warm, often seasonally dry regions across the Caribbean and tropical Americas, storing water in its zigzag stems and rotting if kept wet. Give it gritty, fast-draining mix and water only when the top two inches are fully dry; it tolerates bright indirect light and can take some direct sun once acclimated. Lean toward under-watering, especially in cooler months.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

13–29 °C

Soil mix

Well-draining sandy mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings rooted after callusing

Fertilizing

Balanced feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Small red slipper-shaped bracts; occasional indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Euphorbiaceae produce an irritant milky latex that can harm skin, eyes, and mucous membranes if ingested. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Devil's Backbone yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.