General Landscape Uses: Indoor plant, hedge, border, specimen plant, container

Ecological Restoration Notes: Plant in gardens, containers, or urban landscapes where they are unlikely to spread into natural areas.

Description: Crown of Thorns is a deciduous, herbaceous, perennial shrub with bright green leaves and greenish flowers. The flowers are enclosed within long-lasting and bright bracts of red or yellow. The plant is loose in form, spiny and irregularly shaped, with thick, black spines and its historic presence in the Middle East led to the belief by some that the stems of this plant had been used in Christ’s crown of thorns, hence the common name.

Dimensions: Height 5 – 6 ft.

Growth Rate: Moderate

Native Range: Madagascar

Native Habitats: Dry, spiny forests and coastal regions

Soils: Well-drained, sandy

Nutritional Requirements: Low

Salt Water Tolerance: Low to moderate

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low to moderate

Drought Tolerance: High

Light Requirements: Full Sun

Flower Color: Bracts in shades of red, pink, yellow, orange, or white

Flower Characteristics: True flowers are tiny and inconspicuous

Flowering Season: All year

Fruit: Small, three-lobed capsule that is green when young and turns brown as it matures.

Wildlife and Ecology: The plant’s colorful bracts attract pollinators like insects and its thorny stems provide some protection against herbivores.

Horticultural Notes: Grown from cuttings or seeds

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