Species · genus Euphorbia · Euphorbiaceae

African Milk Bush

Euphorbia umbellata (Pax) Bruyns

Also known as: Naked Lady · Synadenium

Growth habit

shrub or tree

Native range

Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda

Reference · E. umbellata

Cultivars of E. umbellata

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

No named cultivars catalogued under E. umbellata 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 or tree from the seasonally dry woodlands of equatorial East Africa, this Euphorbia stores water in its stems and rots if kept wet. Plant it in gritty, fast-draining mix and water deeply only when the top several inches have gone fully dry. It takes bright light and can tolerate some direct sun once acclimated, but does not need added humidity.

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

Low — average room

Temperature

13–30 °C

Soil mix

Well-draining gritty mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings, callused before potting

Fertilizing

Light feed once or twice in summer

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Small white-bracted cyathia; infrequent indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Euphorbiaceae produce a milky latex that is a skin and eye irritant and toxic 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 African Milk Bush 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.