Christ Plant / Crown Of Thorns
Euphorbia milii
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Christ Plant
Identify Christ Plant by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Spiny succulent stems with red-pink bract clusters (crown of thorns).
- Confirm leaf margin: Entire (smooth edge).
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Red.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Euphorbia milii
- Genus
- Euphorbia
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Garden plant
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Native to
- Madagascar
- Distribution
- Cultivated in the tropics
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Puducherry
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf margin
- Entire (smooth edge)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Christ Plant itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Redrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Christ Plant itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Bengali
- কাঁটা মুকুট, ইউফরবিয়া মিলি
- Tamil
- கிறிஸ்து கிரீடம், கிறிஸ்து தாவரம், கிறிஸ்து முள்
- Malayalam
- യൂഫോർബിയ, Christ Plant, Crown-of-thorns
About Christ Plant
Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii) is a low shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam and 21 other states. It grows in garden plant. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
Locally it is planted as an ornamental. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
In culture
It carries a body of folklore around it.
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge/Euphorbia family
Christ Plant belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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