Euphorbia ID

[sroberts]

I picked this Euphorbia up a few weeks ago and can't seem to find anything that resembles it online or in the 4 different Euphorbia books I have looked at.

Anybody have a clue?

[scotthawk]

Just a guess.. but maybe Euphorbia groenewaldii ??

[sroberts]

Thanks, scotthawk!!

I did a search for that name and found a sufficient amount of pictures to confirm that this is what the plant is.

There's just too many Euphorbias out there to make identification easy...

Thanks again.

Steve

[scotthawk]

Here's a pic of ours, sitting on the fence..It was about the same size as yours when I
put it in this pot.

[GermanStar]

^ That's a riot! Looks like Medusa.

[Tobias Wallek]

Hi Steve !

Beside E. groenewaldii it could also be E. brevitorta or E. tortirama.

I think you know the side of Frank Vincentz ( Sukkulente Euphorbien ). There are many species and sometimes you find informations about similar looking species.

Regards
Tobias

[sroberts]

Hi, Tobias

Well that certainly gave me something to think about. They are all similar in their spiral growth and spination but I think the the two you listed have branches that are more ribbed while what I have is more cylindrical.

The E. tortirama has spines that are up to 20mm (3/4") long. The spines on mine are only 3-6mm (1/8-1-4") long, mostly on the shorter side.
E. tortirama also grows in segments while groenewaldii is not constricted to segments. This according to The Euphorbia Journal volume 2.

I think for now I will stick with groenewaldii as the name but yes, as you say, there are many that can be very close in this genus!

That is a nice website link you gave, thanks.

Steve