Species library › Euphorbia › Euphorbia obesa
Succulents Well documented

Euphorbia obesa

The baseball plant: a spineless, ball-shaped spurge of the Great Karoo near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, rare in the wild but widely grown. It needs strong light, a very gritty mix, sparse water and a cool, dry winter.

Euphorbia obesa
Photo: Andrew Hankey, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows on stony flats and gentle slopes in arid Karoo shrubland, often half hidden among small shrubs and stones that give some light shade.

The main climate site is at about 620 m; the Karoo populations are generally reported at roughly 600–900 m.

South Africa (Eastern Cape)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Euphorbia obesa? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.