Native only to the Great Karoo region of South Africa, Euphorbia obesa is a pretty ball shaped succulent that eventually becomes columnar with age. Very old specimens can be 4 inches around and 8 inches tall. They grow slowly and live a long time. Banded in hues of green, blue and even purple in good light, it is one of the prettiest of the succulent Euphorbias and my personal favorite. Endangered in the wild due to overzealous collection, it is fortunately easy to grow from seed and widespread in cultivation. It is now a protected plant in South Africa and slowly making a comeback.
     I would like to add that the subspecies symmetrica is considered by some to be a seperate species now. I quite frankly can't tell them apart at a young age. I've read that they are flatter and don't become quite as columnar as E. obesa, the flowers are more numerous, bearing several at each point and I've seen pictures of them offsetting from the ribs. Something E. obesa never does, unless it's growth point is damaged like the one below that I photographed at B&B. If any of them ever offset, then I will know. For now I won't build a seperate page for Euphorbia symmetrica, though I would bet I have a couple.
     I bought a couple of these from Bachs Cactus Nursery several years ago and planted them in the Cacti and Succulent garden in my front yard. I almost lost one to rot and sunburn but the other was in a more shaded area and hangs in there still. Surprisingly they seem to grow faster potted than in the ground, it's usually the other way around with most plants. Sadly they also come under attack by a native bird here called a Thrasher. They poke them full of holes, and give me fits! The plants survive but are forever scarred.
     Euphorbia obesa flowers are born on tiny stalks that dry up and break off after flowering. They are dioecious, meaning they have imperfect flowers and a male and female plant is necessary for seed production. The sex of the plant can only be determined when in flower. The male is easy to spot, it will be bristling with bright yellow pollen. The female, once pollinated, produces a three chambered seed pod. When the seeds are fully mature, the pod explodes ejecting the seeds for several feet from the plant. I'm somewhat lucky in that I now have five females and one male in my collection. I kinda like that ratio :-) I've managed to collect some seed but not all germinated. But I recycle my mix and have noticed a few seedlings here and there popping up amongst newly potted plants. I've also come up with a seed collection method that is simple and effective. A styrofoam cooler that I throw a piece of weighted window screen on top of. Click below for more pictures.

The male loaded with pollen	A receptive female	Seed catcher minus screen	A healthy seedling
A damaged one offsetting like mad	A nice grouping in my collection