The Euphorbia candelabrum has a thick, 3 metre trunk, and reaches up to 15 metres. Its large round crown sets this tree apart from others in dry-land Africa spanning from Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia south to Malawi and Zambia. Because of its beautiful crown and its branches’ wings, it is sometimes grown as a hedge, but unfortunately can become quite overgrown. Also, the plant produces a milky latex which is so poisonous it could cause a person to go blind. Elephants are known to eat this tree after kicking it down. Known as Kithuri to the Kikuyu, this tree is especially useful as a live fence. Although it is an important source of nectar in some areas, honey produced when bees forage on this tree is known for its irritating, burning sensations on human mouths.

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“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Jeremiah 27:5