EUPHORBIA BOJERI 



NATURAL ORDER, EUPHORBIACE^. 



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SMALL, succulent, thorny stem and Cactus-like plant, always 

 in blossom, but particularly in the hot season, with its flat 

 quadrangular, very symmetrical trusses of most brilliant ver- 

 milion flowers." Thus writes Ferminger in his usual concise 

 and pointed manner. 



This plant is frequently used as an edge or bordering ; it is then 

 kept close to the ground, and when in full blossom the dazzling scarlet 

 flowers show to great advantage against the dark stems and shining 

 leaves. 



It is most easily propagated by cuttings and grows anywhere, 

 though a mixture of charcoal in the soil is said to improve it. The 

 thorns render it an impenetrable hedge and are a great feature of the 

 plant; they grow in profusion down the stem, and are often more than 

 an inch long. 



The milky juice of the Euphorbia Order will be well known to all 

 cultivators of flowers and lovers of horticulture, and this specimen is 

 no exception ; the sticky, disagreeable liquid flows abundantly where 

 any part of the bush is broken, and leaves a stain on the hands or on 

 anything on which it may drop. 



I find many of the Euphorbia mentioned in Major Drury's " Useful 

 Plants of India," as of use both medicinally and for industrial purposes. 

 "From the milk of 'Euphorbia Cattimandor,'" he says, " a strong cement 

 is made; it is also employed as an outward application for rheumatism." 

 "Specimens of the gum from this plant," he adds, "were sent to the 

 great Exhibition in 1851, as well as to the Madras Exhibition." 



It will generally be admitted, I think, that " Euphorbia Jacquiniflora" 

 is one of the most showy varieties, but it is not so universally known 

 or so hardy to plant as the one in the picture. It is generally grown in 

 pots and not in open ground ; when in full blossom it is very dazzling 

 and brilliant, "with a profusion of small, dazzling vermilion flowers, 

 from the extremity of and all down its long, smooth, slender, twig-like 

 stems." (Ferminger.) 



In one season the branches of this variety have been known to be 

 about seven feet long. 



A sunny position is requisite to the growth of these plants, and 

 they often damp off if exposed to too much rain and under the shade 

 of larcje trees. 



