Species · genus Euphorbia · Euphorbiaceae
Twisted Spine Euphorbia
Euphorbia tortilis Rottler ex Ainslie
Cultivars of E. tortilis
The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.
No named cultivars catalogued under E. tortilis 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 columnar spurge whose angled stems twist in slow spirals, lined with paired spines — grown entirely for that corkscrew architecture. Native to southern India (retail copy often misplaces it in Africa).
Care recipe
The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.
Care notes drawn from cited sources
- Light
- retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): bright light to full sun; best spine development with direct sun
- Water
- dry-succulent 28-day floor — retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): water sparingly, allow to dry completely
Direct sun
≈ every 28 days
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Toxic to cats & dogs & humans
Like its relatives, cut stems bleed a milky latex that can irritate skin and eyes and cause stomach upset if ingested — genus-level evidence; handle with gloves and keep from pets and children. 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 imagesSources: retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): bright light to full sun; best spine development with direct sun · dry-succulent 28-day floor — retail care guidance (growswithlove.com): water sparingly, allow to dry completely · GBIF (Rottler ex Ainslie, Indian type) + growswithlove.com listing · genus-level inference — Euphorbia latex is an irritant genus-wide (the lactea/trigona pattern); no species-exact authority found (NC State has no E. tortilis entry)
Kept true by its growers
Every fact here carries its source. Grow Twisted Spine Euphorbia yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.
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