Euphorbia phillipsiae - tiny 'flowers'!

[Lithos]

Just noticed these little fellas popping up all over this cristate plant. Just can't understand why my other half isn't as excited as I am ! - I may have to get a few Echinopsis to keep her happy!
Apologies for the quality of the photo's I'll try and do better when they are a little bigger!

[Tina]

Hi Lithos
Congatulations, thats a lovely plant & one I haven't got yet, where did you get it from ?.
My normal euphorbia phillipsiodes has been flowering for about two weeks, I have been wiggling a paintbrush around the place & pods are developing now so fingers crossed they ripen. The only problem with these is from seed they are seriously slow.

[Lithos]

I'll be 'cutting some corners off it' after flowering, so happy to send you a graft in a few weeks Tina - a few more pictures of the plant

[Tina]

Hi
Ooh, he's a lovely beasty & yes please re a graft, happy to swap just email me.

I managed to buy a e.horwoodii crest the other month which is really nice looking much better than the normal form which is a bit of a menace on a graft as it gets big & messy.

[Lithos]

It's amazing how some of those Somalian miniatures, like E.horwoodii was first thought to be, become almost a thorn bush in cultivation, and some others retain their incredibly highly evolved state.

[Lithos]

A little closer

Magnified approx 120 times

[Tina]

Hi Phil
It's certainly huge,shame the spines aren't bigger but it would be lethal if they were.

Here's my plant, it's very hard to get a decent photo because of the spines & cyathia, I have had this plant for 6 years & it's only in a 3.5" pot

The Euphorbia horwoodii crest is really nice, it's on e.resinifera which seems to be quite popular with czech growers but the normal form of e.horwoodii are a big disappointment with all the arms

[Lithos]

It's a pretty plant - and notoriously difficult to keep alive on it's own roots - so we could all learn from you. Linking with werewolfs thread, there has always been an odd attitude to cristates etc. within the cacti/succulent world, why I don't know. It used to be thought they were 'mutant' and easier to grow. All I know is that I enjoy growing odd plants, and appreciate them on all kind of levels - and I get bored easily looking at Begonias, Marigolds, Petunias, and to be honest, Rebutias, Echinopsis, round spiny things in general, whilst still appreciating their beauty (sometimes).