Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii has featured once already in Daily Flower Candy, but I couldn’t resist including a photograph taken this weekend in our local park, where it has formed rolling mounds of acid-green flowers almost as tall as I am. In bright sunlight the effect is dazzling; brighter and zestier than any host of golden daffodils.
My adoration of this Mediterranean marvel was swiftly curtailed by Him Indoors, who described it as triffid-like. At first I failed to appreciate the similarity to John Wyndham’s vegetative villain, but on closer inspection the flowers and bracts do have a slightly alien look. I’d liken them more, especially the twin green ‘buds’, to sinister Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. Either way, I think I’ll give this Euphorbia a slightly wider berth in future. One can never be too careful.
