'Fire-On-The-Mountain' : The Overlooked Beauty

Hello again !

It's been a while since my last update..

I was cleaning up fallen branches and debris in my garden yesterday and came upon this little plant with bright red flowers which really caught my attention. What is this..? I found it growing out of a crack in the drain. It looks sort of like a Poinsettia (but isn't as showy as the kind sold..).

This is what commercial Poinsettias look like:

(Photo credit : www.funwallz.com)

Look at the showy bracts.. (those are the leaves that look like flower petals)

If it’s not some kind of horrible, invasive thing, I will leave it there...but it has a certain home grown charm. Obviously this plant has a great deal of color variation. So, what is this mysterious plant? And the search began...

I found out that this plant is one of a few Euphorbias called Euphorbia cyathophora. The common name is Wild Poinsettia or Fire-On-The-Mountain. Wild weeds indeed, but it has pretty flowers! These plants are fine for the naturalistic garden.

I have transplanted the plant into a proper container (this will help you grow better, dear little thing!) Hope this mistreated plant enjoys its new home :)

And...oh yes! I came across a poem that I can relate to:

An Overlooked Beauty - by Luna Moon

"I'm a flower with crimson petals.
They bask in the sunlight,
And shine a vibrant red.
People stop to admire me,
My delicate red petals.

But they don't think about what I love the most.
What makes me live.
I love the soil beneath me,
Soft and moist.
My roots run deep into the sweet soil.

You're the soil beneath me.
Without you, my red petals are gone.
Your soil makes me beautiful.
Your soil makes me live."


Till then.  :)