Expect Longer waiting time for Sakura floral display at Flower Dome
Please expect longer waiting time in Flower Dome due to the popularity of Sakura floral display. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience.
Advisory for use of tripods at Sakura floral display
To better manage the crowds for safe movement of all visitors, the use of tripods for photo-taking at Sakura floral display in Flower Dome is not allowed on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.
Upgrading and development works around Gardens
Development works at Bay East Garden from 24 Oct 2023. The promenade and area under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge will remain accessible to the public.
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Cow’s Horn Spurge
(Euphorbia grandicornis)
All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti!
Several xerophytes or arid-adapted plants might resemble cacti in appearance, but are unrelated to them genetically. One example is the cow’s horn spurge (Euphorbia grandicornis), a relative of the poinsettia (E. pulcherrima) and garden croton (Codieum variegatum). Native to the dry alluvial plains of southeastern Africa, this arborescent succulent has evolved to resemble cacti as a result of convergent evolution—an evolutionary process where species from different lineages independently evolve similar traits.
The uncanny resemblance of cow’s horn spurge (above) with a typical cactus.
Stem succulence is one of the common traits that evolved as an adaptation to hot, dry desert conditions. Cacti form thick, fleshy stems for water storage. However, this might not just be the case for the cow’s horn spurge with its green, winged stems that also carry out photosynthesis. Unlike the spines of cacti species, which have entirely replaced all their leaves, the cow’s horn spurge does have true leaves albeit minute and rather short-lived ones. The twin spines on the cow’s horn spurge are formed from stipules— appendages or outgrowths found on either side of a petiole or leaf-stalk.
At first glance, the angular stem of the cow’s horn spurge seems to be lined with individual cup-shaped flowers (left) but they are actually flower-heads called cyathia (singular: cyathium)—specialised inflorescences of the genus Euphorbia.
A major difference between cacti and the xerophytic spurges is their reproductive structures. Cacti usually have large, showy flowers—think of the queen of the night cactus or tan-hua!— while the flowers of the cow’s horn spurges are more than meets the eyes.
Each individual flower-head or cyathium is a complex structure composed of multiple florets. Outermost is a ring of five nectary glands that resemble petals. These surround a cluster of reduced male flowers on the base of each nectary gland with a single stamen in each male flower, which in turn surrounds a single reduced female flower with one ovary. Once the female flower in a cyathium is successfully fertilised by its insect pollinators, its ovary will develop into a fruit, in this species, a three-lobed capsule, which will eventually dry up and explode to spread its seeds.
A flowering cow’s horn spurge (middle) in between a variegated mottled spurge (E. lactea ‘White Ghost’, left), and a non-flowering cow’s horn spurge (right).
Find these blooming succulents in the Sun Pavilion, just beside the Far East Organisation’s Children’s Garden!
Written by: Hazri Boey, Senior Horticulturist (Gardens Operations)
Hazri not only surrounds himself with plants at work; he has an abundant collection at home too! Having nurtured a keen interest in nature since young, he might have gone on to become a zookeeper caring for owls or sloths had it not been for his plant identification talent!
This article is part of our What's Blooming series.
Read Next: Hydrangea (Hydrangea cv.)
For the first time ever, hydrangeas are the leading star of the floral show! Be mesmerised by the vivid colours of these huge, flamboyant flower heads when you visit the Flower Dome!
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