Christ thorn plant or crown of thorns cactus
Christ’s thorn or crown of thorns cactus, Euphorbia milii Des Moul. It is one of the existing plants and was grown in the greenhouse at the College of Education for Pure Sciences. It is a perennial succulent ornamental plant with a resinous sap, Euphorbiaceae dioecious, with very beautiful red bracts, evergreen, blooms in spring to mid-summer and is characterized by the abundance of thorns on the stem. The ability to control pests. It works as an effective pesticide because it contains effective toxic chemicals in all its parts, causing poisoning when swallowed.
The stem exudes a toxic milky substance from wounds that causes allergies and skin irritation upon contact. Therefore, care must be taken and gloves should be worn when dealing with it. It is used in garden landscaping, as it is preferable to grow it as garden hedges because of its strength and tolerance to heat and drought and the different colors and shapes of its beautiful flowers. It does not require much care. It tolerates temperatures up to 12 degrees Celsius, but not the high summer heat, even though it is a succulent plant. It needs high humidity in the spring and summer.
It loves bright light and direct sunlight in the winter, and needs abundant irrigation, except in the winter, when watering is reduced. Fertilization is done in the summer once a month for the purpose of flowering. After the end of the flowering season, the plant is pruned and left on it with no less than 10 branches. The plant is propagated by cuttings or Seeds, and it is preferable to abundantly water the pots when transporting them and fertilize them so that the plant will flourish. If I want the plant to continue to flower even in the winter, it is preferable to cover it with black plastic bags at night for 14 hours to block the light from it. Then remove the cover and repeat the covering process for two months, then leave the plant to grow. Naturally and prosperously, plant milk is used after mixing it with other substances to treat sciatica, dog bites, insect stings, joint and nerve pain..
