Jatropha dichtar seeds grow into a spiny caudiciform shrub native to the desert and dry shrubland biome of eastern Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya a Horn of Africa endemic from one of the world’s most botanically extraordinary arid regions. This member of Euphorbiaceae develops thick, succulent, water-storing stems with spiny branch tips and small leaves adapted to the strongly seasonal aridity of its range. Like all Jatropha, it produces a caustic white latex when cut. The name dichtar derives from a local Somali or Ethiopian name for the plant.

Full sun, very sharp drainage and a dry rest when leafless replicate the extreme desert conditions of its Horn of Africa habitat.

• Spiny caudiciform shrub; thick succulent water-storing stems; caustic white latex
• E. Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya desert and dry shrubland biome
• Horn of Africa endemic; local name-derived epithet ‘dichtar’
• Family Euphorbiaceae; full sun; very sharp drainage; dry leafless rest
• Part of the extraordinary Euphorbiaceae diversity of East Africa’s dry flora

Jatropha dichtar is an authentic Horn of Africa caudiciform from one of the most botanically diverse and extreme arid zones on earth a spiny succulent shrub for collectors who want genuine dry-zone East African Euphorbiaceae.

IMPORTANT: Pictures show the adult plant, which is not for sale. The offer is only for seeds.