Euphorbia leucocephala, with many common names including little Christmas flower, white lace euphorbia, snow bush, snow flake, snows of Kilimanjaro and white Christmas bush is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is endemic to Mexico and Mesoamerica.
Family
Euphorbiaceae
Botanical Name
EUPHORBIA leucocephala
Plant Common Name
Little Christmas Flower, Snow Flake, White Lace Euphorbia
Special Notice
This entry has yet to be reviewed and approved by L2G editors.
General Description
“Sweet like honey” describes the scent of the tiny flowers of the little Christmas flower in late fall and early winter. A frost-tender evergreen shrub native to Mexico and Central America, it looks like an oval snowball when in bloom. As with other members of the spurge family, a milky sap exudes from broken leaves or stems.
The leaves are narrow ovals and are medium green with a hint of blue-green. A leaf underside is lighter green. In late fall the branch tips bear many tiny fragrant flowers of greenish white surrounded by many white bracts. The flowers are short-lived but the bracts remain for weeks, giving the impression the plant is in bloom from late fall to midwinter.
Grow little Christmas flower in full to partial sun in any fertile, porous, well-drained soil. Moist soil in summer’s heat causes fast growth and the soil must be made drier in winter. Plants are much denser in habit with more sun exposure. Prune back the plant hard in early spring to rejuvenate and grow as a compact, tidy foliage mass. Light trimming is fine, but complete no later than midsummer so you don’t remove stem tips that will flower later. Use it as an accent in a mixed tropical border where frost is never a wintertime problem.
Plants and Trees of Nicaragua 