Hello, I’m a grower with a decent cactus collection who’s wanting to expand into the Euphorbia family. One euphorbia I’ve had my eye on in particular is the Euphorbia Obesa. I’ve seen some incredible multi-decade old specimens and want to start growing one of my own to show off when I’m like 90.
However, I’ve noticed that many of the obesas that I’ve seen look very different. Some people have 20 year old specimens that are just a single column with zero pups. Some people have much younger specimens that form dense clusters of pups. Almost none of them are marked as specific cultivars or subspecies. Some of them are just marked with the ambiguous tag “hybrid”
Are these differences caused by how people raise their obesas? Is it just something that the plant decides? Am I actually being shown many different cultivars or species all labeled “obesa”? I want to know when I buy one.
I’d personally like one that looks similar to the specimen they have at Poot’s Cactus Nursery in Ripon CA (pictured above). Is there a specific cultivar I need to look for or is there a certain way I need to care for the plant? If anyone knows the cultivars they have at Poots (especially the spirally one), I’d love to know.
Any additional information about Obesas you can provide would be much appreciated. Apologies for my naïveté, I’m quite new to the world of Euphorbias and I’m still learning all the differences between them and cacti.
by Model-VP
3 Comments
Sorry just commenting to say I love poots nursery.
I’ve wondered the same thing. Every image of old obesa specimens in habitat are single-stemmed cylinders, like this one: [https://www.cactuspro.com/conophytum-lithops/zp-core/full-image.php?a=plantes-compagnes/euphorbia-in-situ-/afrique-du-sud&i=euphorbia-obesa-kendrew-3-.jpg&q=85&wmk=%21&dsp=protected&check=cdcd098ee5c7414b7936bc2d37e26cbde68f0e50](https://www.cactuspro.com/conophytum-lithops/zp-core/full-image.php?a=plantes-compagnes/euphorbia-in-situ-/afrique-du-sud&i=euphorbia-obesa-kendrew-3-.jpg&q=85&wmk=%21&dsp=protected&check=cdcd098ee5c7414b7936bc2d37e26cbde68f0e50)
More or less 2 options. Either Poots’ E. obesa is a hybrid, or the initial shoot encountered some sort of damage to the apical meristem. It’s generally uncommon for E. obesa/symmetrica species to pup, but not impossible for it to occur naturally.
Easiest way to induce pupping of E. obesa would be damaging the growth point by literally poking it with something. I believe I’ve read some folks even heating up something you’d poke with before doing so to ensure the growth point is damaged.
This will force pupping from the plant’s axillary buds.